Page 35 of With a Vengeance

“I’m supposed to be heading to Baltimore right now,” the man says. “Once I realized what happened, it was too late. This train was already moving. Where’s it headed?”

“Chicago.”

“Wow.” The man widens his eyes before grimacing. “I really botched up this time. I guess I’ll get off at the next stop and, uh, try to backtrack to where I need to be.”

“There isn’t a next stop,” Anna says.

“What do you mean?”

“This train is an express going straight to Chicago.”

“My boss is going to kill me.” The stranger, realizing the inappropriateness of the phrase, takes on a stricken look. With another darting glance at Judd’s body, he says, “I’m sorry. I’m just really, um, nervous.”

Anna backs herself to the other side of the car, settling on the armrest of the chair across from the man. “Nervous or scared?”

“Both,” he admits. “But more scared?”

Anna feels more than a little frightened herself. This is bad, she thinks. Very bad. Practically catastrophic. Yet another thing threatens to ruin her plans. All because some idiot stepped onto the wrong train.

If he’s telling the truth, of course. Anna knows there’s a very good chance this man is lying.

“Tell me your name,” she says.

“Reginald,” the man says. “Reginald Davis. My friends call me Reggie.”

Anna considers this, wondering if it’s an alias. She replays the way he said it in her mind, searching for signs of hesitation, of performance, of untruth. There’s nothing that stands out, which makes her doubly suspicious.

Seamus must feel the same way, because he takes a step toward them and says, “You got proof of that, Reggie?”

“A driver’s license?” Anna suggests. “Or a passport? Anything to let us know you’re who you say you are.”

“How about my word?”

Anna chuckles dryly. “That means nothing here.”

“My wallet’s in my overnight bag. Which is still in coach.” The man dips a hand into his jacket pocket. “But I have my ticket. See?”

He holds out a slip of paper so that Anna can see both the station of departure—Philadelphia—and his original destination of Baltimore. She eyes it with suspicion. Just because he bought a ticket doesn’t mean he intended to use it.

“Why didn’t we see you earlier?” Seamus says. “All of us went to the front of the train and back again more than an hour ago. Yet you were nowhere to be seen.”

Reggie hesitates, his face turning an embarrassed pink. “I was in the lavatory.”

“That entire time?” Anna says.

“I was sick. My nerves, you see. When I realized I’d boarded the wrong train, they got the best of me. While I was holed up in the lavatory, I heard you all going back and forth. It was a relief. That’s why I entered the first-class section. To find you.”

“A move you’re probably regretting right now,” Seamus says, signaling that he might believe Reggie.

Anna finds herself doing the same. Thanks to his dazed look and timid bearing, it’s easy to imagine Reggie Davis having a nervous stomach.

“Do you regret coming back here?” Anna asks.

“Yes,” Reggie says. “A little. I mean, I needed to understand what was going on. Why is no one else on this train?”

“Because I bought all the tickets.”

Reggie reacts with a look of bug-eyed consternation. “Allthe tickets?”

---