“Aha! The bridge. It must be Ronda. What I’m remembering is from university. We would-be writers take a lot of literature classes. Hemingway… ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls.’ It’s a favorite of mine. But never mind that now.
“It’s built on high cliffs and there’s a river running through the middle of town. I remember hearing that,” Ana said, sounding enthusiastic.
Ben got up and said, “Sounds spectacular. Let’s go down to the lobby and use one of the guest computers to get some details.”
Ana dressed quickly and they were soon seated at a computer. Ben accessed Wikipedia first, but said he didn’t need a history back to the dark ages so switched to a travel site. They confirmed that a river did run through the town and accessed photos showing the extreme topography of the mountains and the precarious-looking location of the town.
“This is it!” She turned and smiled at Ben, then asked, “So what’s your end game, sir?”
“My end game is to invite you to come with me to Ronda. It sounds like a perfect get-away to me. What do you think?”
“Seriously— you and me? Trouble free? But what about Valerie?”
“Her parents arrive momentarily—maybe already. I talked to Dad and he thinks it would be better for her to be urged toward reality without me in the vicinity. Doctors will supervise and her parents will be there to support her. The more I’m involved or make myself available, the more she could resist and want to stay dependent on me.”
“Wow! This is a lot to take in. But it’s good stuff now.” She jumped up and threw her arms around Ben. “I would absolutely love to see Andalusia, and finding my abuela’s little town will be icing on the cake.”
“I doubt it’s a little town anymore, thanks to tourism. My Dad is going to help get things arranged. Maybe we can take advantage of his connections again. His buddies are good at finding empty seats on planes that are supposedly full.”
“Yes, I’ve seen him at work. Airplane seats are probably the least of it. There’s no doubt he’s a valuable ally!”
Ben laughed and told her they needed to get busy preparing to leave at a moment’s notice. Just then his mobile phone rang, with Olivia on the other end. He spoke with her briefly, learning that Hugh hadn’t quite been able to keep from spilling the beans. But Ben didn’t care. He had awakened with no throbbing of his injuries, and with a day or so of beard growth any discoloration on his face wouldn’t show. He felt strong again and up to the task, whatever it might be. He called his father’s room and told him where they would be going. Hugh asked about their preferable form of travel, but Ben was mainly concerned with how long it would take. He was told to have some breakfast and wait for a call. They went into the dining room to wait. Ana said she was probably too excited to eat, but managed to down a large pastry with her coffee.
Hugh called within a half hour. The first option was a flight to Madrid, and then the hour and a half flight to Málaga-Costa del Sol airport. There they could rent a car for the drive to Ronda. Or they could take a train from Madrid to Ronda. But that took over three hours. It was all coming at Ben too fast. He asked Hugh to slow down. The point was that there was no decent direct flight from Pamplona airport to either Málaga or Ronda. Madrid was a must.
Ben said he would discuss it with Ana and get back to him as soon as he could. After trying to keep things straight when he talked to her, he decided to simplify by asking his father which means of transport in which combination would take the least amount of time. They moved to the lobby to wait. It wasn’t long before his phone rang and the litany of travel choices began again.
Ben had to stop him. “Dad! How did you get so much information so fast?” Hugh laughed on the other end of the line. “Please, Dad, just tell me the fastest route.”
Hugh said he’d get back to him soon. Ben rang off and sat back. He told Ana there were too many choices, and he would like her input. She said she agreed that the best route was the fastest one, but she hoped they would have a chance to see the landscape other than from the sky. Considering modes of travel triggered a memory. She had forgotten to tell Ben something else she had learned from Inspector Macias.
“Ben, I forgot to tell you what became of the rental car you left on the street. I was too focused on the Annunciata issue.”
“Oh boy… I probably have some hefty impound fees to pay. And I may have to drive it back to the airport.”
“No worries. He had it taken to the local rental office, and there are no fees.”
Ben nodded, smiling. “Macias is a good guy.”
“Yes, he was very charming and helpful to me when I asked him for that information.”
“Of course he was charming.” Ben quickly got up from the chair and pulled Ana up from hers. He looked around the room, and seeing that no one was watching, he gently held her face in his hands, kissed her cheek, and said, “A man is automatically charming to a beautiful woman.”
“Whatever works,” she said, loving his comment, but loving his touch even more.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
After a quick dinner in the hotel dining room and coffee in the lounge, Ben and Ana decided to make it an early night. A short while later Hugh looked for them in the lounge. They weren’t there, so he decided to try Ben’s room.
