Page 82 of Just for a Taste

“A few weeks ago.”

I heard the door shut, and the birdsong quieted.

“So they’ve known exactly where the two of you are staying for ‘a few weeks and have made no further attempts to contact you?”

Somehow, with my mind so focused on watching Zeno fall apart in front of me, I hadn’t connected such straightforward dots. I paced the same short length back and forth. “Yes.”

“Have either of you left the house?”

My pace quickened. “Zeno leaves a lot.”

“And you?”

“Outside of yesterday and today, I haven’t even been aboveground.”

“So they’ve been waiting foryouto leave,” Noor said so gravely, it made me stop in my tracks. “Cora, you need to turn the phone off and go back now.”

I spoke quickly and loudly so she wouldn’t hang up. “I know they want me alone, but Basilio offered to pay me once. It might be possible to make some kind of arrangement now.”

“‘Arrangements’ with nobility take a lifetime to learn to navigate,” she replied with a scoff. “People likethemdo not make ‘arrangements’ with people likeyou. Be smart, power your phone off, and go home before they track you.”

I pulled the phone away from my face and considered ending the call and going home. It would be quite easy. Embarrassing if Zeno had already awoken, perhaps. I could already imagine him fretting and holding me. But now that I could imagine that, I could also imagine the bruises gathering beneath his skin.

I spoke into the phone once more. “Thank you for your advice, Doctor Ntumba. I know chances are we won’t come to any sort of truce. But I need to at least try.”

Once again, a low, deep crackling came through the phone. I could practically see Noor on the other side, pushing up her glasses by their base and pinching the bridge of her nose to stave away the beginnings of a migraine, her umber skin turning russet, a single vein visible in her forehead.

“Are you certain?” she asked, words prickling with annoyance.

“Yes.” My answer was firm and quick, immediately tailing the last word of her question.

Yet another groan. “As you wish, Cora. I know better than to try to talk you or Zeno out of something once you’ve resolved to do it. No matter how ill-conceived it is.”

I tucked the phone between my chin and shoulder, returning to the rock I had been sitting on. I felt the need to grip it with both hands, to ground myself as much as possible while literally sitting on the edge of my seat.

“So will you help me?” I asked.

“What exactly are you expecting me to do from here?”

“I imagine you have some way of contacting Basilio, right?”

“I will send you his contact information,” she responded. Then, an unexpected plea: “Cora, promise me you’ll be careful.”

Now it was my turn to be silent. Lying had become an unwanted skill of mine, one I didn’t want to continue practicing. So I simply said, “Thank you for sending me that, Doctor Ntumba. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

The chattering of night animals, which had once seemed so loud, now sounded like a whisper. Everything about my surroundings seemed more remote than ever, but I felt no more in danger. After all, I hadn’t truly been safe in a long time.

She sent over everything a few minutes later—email addresses, a mailing address, and multiple phone numbers. I tried the first one, and it didn’t get the chance to fully ring even once.

“Signorina Bowling, what an unexpected delight!”

Despite his enthusiasm, Basilio‘s voice was raspy, and I could tell that he had just woken up. “What on earth are you doing in the middle of all those farms?” he chuckled. “Surely my dear cousin didn’t drag you out there on some peculiar hike?”

Of course he knew I wasn’t at the trullo. Of course it had only taken minutes of me being connected to 2G for him to track me.

I curled my knees up to my chest and set my phone on top of them on speakerphone. “No, I’m alone.”

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