Page 104 of Radar

With a bag slung over each shoulder, his roller bag in one hand and her hand in his other. They walked half a block to the hospital supply store.

He lifted his hand when he walked in, and Elyssa noticed his bruised and swollen knuckles.

Typing an amount into the computer, the cashier read the total, and Xander paid in cash.

The cashier rounded the counter with a wheelchair. It had a nicely padded seat, and in the back, there was a large enough basket. Xander could easily slide his roller bag into it.

Still holding Radar’s lead, Elyssa sat. “Xander, my condition isn’t usually this bad. Just all the travel, and cold, and chaos.”

“You’re a super star and I’m in awe. I hoped this would take some pressure off.”

“Thank you,” Elyssa said as the cashier ran around them to the door and held it wide, Elyssa wondered what story Xander had offered this person.

Their next stop was three doors down at a women’s clothing store. He walked to the shelf, pulled down a t-shirt, sweatpants, and a fleece jacket, and placed them in her lap.

Pushing the chair back to the area to try things on, Elyssa simply sat there with the clothes in her lap. This had to be some kind of ploy.

Xander was busy on the floor, pulling out a wand-like piece of equipment. Then, piece by piece, he meticulously went through every item in their bags, the clothes he wore, and then the clothes she wore.

Her boot lit up the wand.

Silently, Xander removed it from her foot and looked it over. Then, with a penknife, he worked on the liner. Elyssa wasn’t great with the idea that he was digging into her sweaty boot. After a moment, he pulled up a flat disk that must have been in the heel cavity.

Cold washed through Elyssa.

She had brought those attackers to their room. She had put Radar and Xander in deadly peril.

She felt like she was cosplaying. It was like being in a movie without being given a script. None of this seemed real, despite the sights, sounds, and smells.

Meanwhile, there was Xander acting like this was his normal, everyday life. And for all she knew, it was. Yup, he was just going about his business with no evident emotion about this at all. He retrieved a piece of gum from his kit, chewed it, and then pressed the tracker into the glob. Leaving Radar to guard her, he left the dressing area.

There was the tinkle as the bell jingled at the front door. A moment later, the bell tinkled again.

When Xander walked back into the curtained area, he was grinning as he said, “Now they’re tracking a public bus, that should be fun for them.”

After Xander performed a final sweep of every item they had with them and repacked, he wheeled Elyssa to the cashier and paid for her new outfit.

As they moved through the front door with the paper bag on her lap, she asked, “Did you buy me the outfit because you don’t like me to wear your shirts?”

“The outfit was subterfuge,” Xander said. “I love that you’re wearing my shirt.”

Their next stop was onto the Metro, heading toward Victor and the boat.

Neither of them had anything to say as they lightly swayed with a car filled with Parisians and tourists.

Elyssa was conserving what energy she could as she snacked on her pickle-flavored chips.

“Elyssa, we’re the next stop.” Xander released the brake on her chair and pushed it forward.

The subway lights blinked, then faded. They were in pitch black until Xander swiped his phone flashlight on.

Rolling to a stop, Xander said loudly enough for the car to hear, first in French, then in English, “Looks like the electrical outage made it to Paris.” Xander reached for the door and pried it open. He jumped down. People around him were calling out to him, and Elyssa had no idea what they were saying, but Xander’s reply was in a reasonable tone. He seemed to be giving them information and explanations.

Heads were nodding. Xander reached for Elyssa and held her in his arms while two men got down and moved the wheelchair and their bags to the sidewalk that ran along the tunnel. Passengers held out their phone flashlights to provide light.

Radar jumped down from the car to the rails and then leaped up onto the sidewalk next to the wheelchair.

Xander set Elyssa down in her seat again.

---