Desperate Attempt of Survival

Despite all the light in the room, the face of the one sitting in a rocking chair was hidden under shadows. At first, Eugene forgot that the one who framed his brother was also his dear friend. He appeared to be a total stranger at this instance, as if all this time spent in his company, jokes and laughs shared with each other were simply a mirage. In replacement of denial came anger, Eugene clutched his fists and was about to move forward. Not even Sylvia, who was pulling him from behind, could not stop him. Eugene made a few heavy steps towards the man he never knew, looked into his eyes that were unreadable due to darkness, and after several seconds of doubt he spoke in a threatening tone.

"What the hell do you mean by that? Quit fucking around!"

Marco was unfazed by his presence, he took another puff and slowly raised his head to meet the eyes of a young man, "I am sorry Eugene."

At that moment, rage in Eugene's mind reached a boiling point, and he was about to hit Marco, but suddenly, a woman's voice rang in his ears.

"Stop it, immediately."

Her tone was imperious yet calm, majestic enough to obey it. Eugene turned to his right and saw Sylvia, who was silently approaching two men. Even though her demand was directed at Eugene, she was carefully observing Marco. Even the slightest movements were not able to escape her precise gaze. And as soon as she came close enough to see her in full glory, Marco also abandoned the man and appealed to lady.

"Before you call the police, may I ask you a few questions?"

She nodded in agreement and glanced at Eugene. He noticed her heavy glare and just crossed his arms, not forgetting to frown.

"Alright, first of all, how did you guess that I am working for Italian government. My background check should only tell about our family escaping the fascist regime. So how?"

"Firstly, Monsieur doctor, this was not a "guess", but rather a calculated deduction." Sylvia shook her head in displeasure, "Your family indeed ran from the government, but it does not mean you would oppose it as well. In the end, that asylum gear went to the hands of both Italy and Germany. It was not hard to deduct your true connection with these regimes."

Marco raised his brow at her answer, "How do you know where this gear went to?"

At this question the woman only cackled, but upon seeing him still confused, she reluctantly said, "Better clean your office more often, there were many incriminating papers scattered around."

"I see," Marco made a mental note and asked yet another question, "Why did you investigate this case in the first place?"

"That's irrelevant." Sylvia jerked her head and squinted her eyes, "Would not it be fair if we ask a few questions as well? The ones to be interrogated should be culprits and not investigators."

She looked at Eugene one more time, who seemingly cooled off after the revelation. He realized her intention of giving him an opportunity, and so the man spoke through the bitterness in his throat.

"All I want to know, Marco, why did you do it? Why did you frame Christopher!?"

"Well, George should have been eliminated to weaken the position of popular front. Such was the goal of this operation." Marco made a slight pause to finish off his cigarette. Then he proceeded with remorse in his tone, "Christopher was just unfortunate enough to be in this position. I am not the one who gives orders, Eugene. And all I can do is obey them, I did not want to ruin his life. I tried to convince him to move out of here, I knew he would be pursued, but never expected it to go this far! I am really sorry…"

Afterwards, the words of grief have changed onto quiet weeping. Marco leaned against his hand and started crying, leaving the room in an awkward state. Eugene eyes started tearing up, and he muttered with his heavy lips.

"So, it was you who sent him that warning letter."

Marco slowly nodded, but still hid his messy expression from the two young ones. And so it continued for a few minutes, but then the doctor hit the rocking chair with his fist and exclaimed.

"You know what? Let's catch the culprits together! Though, it would be better to discuss our plan at the hospital. There are fewer ears to hear us."

Eugene and Sylvia glanced over each other and then returned their gazes to Marco. The first to react was Eugene, he sat down on the sofa and brushed his hair with the right arm. Sylvia became the one to answer to this sudden proposal, she hid her lips under her palm and quietly mumbled.

"Well, that certainly helps."

"Alright then!" Marco said energetically and dashed towards the exit door, "What are you waiting for? Come on, we have lots of things to discuss together."

Finally, his face was visible for the eyes of his visitors. Marco bore a calm smile, as if nothing spectacular was revealed in their chat. He appeared to be disturbingly at ease, nevertheless, the two followed him in hush. All this time until they sat in Marco's car, the man was urged them on increasing their pace. He was keen on saving time, as he himself proclaimed, but the two did not rush whatsoever. Still, Marco's timbre remained unfazed, as kind and light-hearted as ever.

Even in the car, he tried to awaken a surge of dialogue in their hearts. He asked many questions about Eugene's plans for the remaining day in Paris, whether he would go on a shopping spree, and named various cafés as recommendations where great coffee is served. Marco did not forget about the lady either, he tried to find out her origin and their story of acquaintanceship. And despite all the life and light he brought onto this moonless night, Sylvia gave one or two word responses and Eugene remained completely silent.

It did not bother Marco at first, but the closer they got to the hospital, the less talkative he was. He was especially silent after seeing a hospital in total darkness of the night. He made a few barely noticeable turns with his head to the left and right, but continued driving forward, though a bit slower. As they were parking near the entrance, no word escaped anyone's mouth. Marco released his seatbelt, and so did Eugene with Sylvia. The three sat in the small car for a few seconds, but then, the driver's door was suddenly pushed wide open and Marco ran out of it as if some kind of wild animal. He ran away from the hospital towards the dim alleys of Paris, where he could disappear from everyone's sight. But then, his whole frame was enveloped in burning light of an appleton spotlight that were connected to police cars that drove out of the darkness they were hiding in.

"Stop immediately and raise your hands!" said one of the officers through the megaphone, and Marco followed his command, although unwillingly. Soon enough, he was entirely surrounded by the police officers, as well as 2 young people who already excited the car. Eugene looked at Marco with disgust, while Sylvia was savouring the victory with a wry smile that was hidden under her palm.

"Damn you!" screamed Marco, whose eyes were bloodshot in rage. He raised his head at the police car where he noticed some people already seated at the back, "How did you do it!? How did you know about the trade!?"

"We knew all along how your people have messed up. How you took the wrong hostage and that you contacted the very people you tried to murder in order to bargain a trade deal. By the way, who was the other group that kidnapped my butler?"

It was a rhetorical question directed at one of the officers. He hummed for a while, glanced at another officer who nodded in approval, and nervously spoke, "T-they were unemployed citizens of Paris, ardent supporters of the French Communist Party, judging by their tattoos."

"As one would expect. No wonder they went for Monsieur surgeon's blood. Oh, and you can take it."

She threw something at the officer, who managed to catch it, but as soon as he realized the nature of this item, he was startled and dropped it. The heavy clang surprised everyone, it was an old handgun. All the eyes were raised at Sylvia and one person was brave enough to ask the general question.

"Where did you get it from, Madam la Avise?"

"From the back of Monsieur doctor's seat, why do you think he ran off from the car like a saiga?"

Apparently, it was true, after closer inspection the officers were able to identify the weapon as Italian Beretta M1934, though the officers still gave weird gazes to the innocent looking noble woman. The only one who did not follow their universal surprise, was another passenger of culprit's car.

"Christopher," Eugene suddenly spoke with everyone. His eyes were still wide from shock, yet his mind did not ditch the one whom he wanted to save, "Where is Christopher, you saved him, right?"

Eugene's hands caught that same officer who spoke to Sylvia some seconds ago. The rest were dragging away Marco. He was not fighting them, the body of an Italian doctor was loose, and only his eyes were frozen in place. They were overfilled with wild fury and directed at the woman, who ruined his years-long game of spy. Sylvia did not pay any attention to him, instead looking at the one whose hopes were about to be either crushed or realized.

"You must be, Monsieur… Eugene? Brother of the "Death Surgeon"?"

Eugene squinted at him and the officer apologetically gasped, "Oh, I am sorry, brother of Christopher? You must not worry, he is well and sound. My help is not needed here, so I can conduct you to him."