The sun had set in the last ten minutes, and the space was not well lit, so the shadows were also his friend as he leaned into the window to sell the illusion he was smoking, then waited. He expected the door behind him to open within half a minute, but it didn’t. In fact it was almost three before someone passed through, and it was a woman, not the guy he was hiding from.
He held his position, wondering where the hell the man gone. After another minute, the door opened again. Someone stepped through, then Logan heard something scrape against the second door a couple of times.
“Dammit,” a voice said.
Logan resisted the urge to turn.
“Hey, can you give me a hand?”
Logan still didn’t move.
“Buddy, you speak English? I could use some help.”
Logan turned, but tried to stay as much in the darkness as possible. Sure enough, it was the guy he’d been trying to avoid. “Sorry,” he said. “Daydreaming.”
“No problem. Can you open this door for me? My hands are kind of full. Got through the other one, but now I seem kind of stuck.”
He was holding several bottles of beer and some packages of food, which explained why he’d been delayed.
“Sure,” Logan said.
He squeezed by the man and opened the door.
“Thanks. Appreciate it.”
As the guy disappeared inside, Logan knew he probably should just turn around and head back to his seat, but an opportunity had just been presented to him that he couldn’t pass up.
Since a person could only go two directions on a train, if someone was walking down the aisle behind them, there’d be very little reason for them to think they were being followed.
Logan let the man have a good five second lead, then he entered the car.
This, too, was unlike the second class car. But it wasn’t another dining car. This one was first class. The aisle ran along the windows on the left, and on the right were white doors to the private cabins.
As the man neared each cabin door, Logan tense in anticipation, but the man made it all the way to the end without stopping. There he paused, then looked back and saw Logan.
“You coming this way too?” he called out.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Get the door for me again?”
“Of course.”
As they passed into the next cabin, the man said, “Thanks, man. I feel like I should tip you. Want a beer?”
“No, thanks. You keep them.” Logan paused. It was too late to worry about the guy remembering his face, so he added, “Unless you’re actually going to drink all of them yourself.”
The guy laughed. “Not that I couldn’t, but I’m sharing these.”
Suddenly they were friends, and Logan was no longer walking twenty feet behind him, but only three.
“At least those will help pass the time,” Logan said.
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
Logan almost asked how far the man was traveling. The question was on his lips, an innocent inquiry from a fellow passenger. But he hesitated, then decided it was one step too far.
They were halfway through the car when the door ahead of them opened, and Daeng came through. He nearly missed a step when he saw Logan walking toward him right behind Aaron’s friend. Logan could see that Daeng was trying to figure out if he needed to do something or not, so he raised a hand a few inches, indicating that everything was okay.
As they got nearer, Daeng moved against the window so they could pass. Once the man had gone by, Daeng gave Logan a look that very clearly asked what the hell was he doing? Unfortunately, there was no easy way for Logan to reply.
As before, Logan helped with the doors as they moved out of one car and into the next. This time, though, the man stopped three cabins down.
“Thanks, again,” he said, as he moved out of the way so Logan could keep going.
“No worries. Enjoy the beer.”
Walking slowly away, he heard the door slide open.
Someone inside said, “Took you long enough.”
The man’s reply was lost as the door closed again.
Quickly, Logan turned and headed back the way he’d come.
He found Daeng in their booth back in second class. As he sat down, Daeng raised an eyebrow and said, “I see they didn’t kill you.”
One side of Logan’s mouth moved up in a smirk. “So, tell me. Were
