Page 46 of The Pacifist
“Yes. And that made me think of that drone the fire fighters passed on their way to us. The one with one passenger. It can’t be a coincidence that Anne goes public with her accusation the same day that the fire reveals our brewery.”
“No, I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
Cole sighed. “We always knew Anne was crazy, but if she set fire to a building that close to where our entire family was sleeping, she is truly deranged.”
I made a sound of agreement. “I could check with the registry of transportation and find out who was in the area. It’s hard to believe her capable of something like that though.”
“If Anne is responsible for the fire, she would have found someone else to do her dirty work. She’s crazy but not unintelligent.”
“All right, I’ll keep you posted. Mila is waiting for me back at my place.”
“Okay. Give her a kiss from me, will you?”
I frowned. “I don’t think so. If I give Mila a kiss it will be from me.”
“Ahh.” His tone lightened. “It’s like that, is it?”
“Got to go, brother.” With all the chaos around me, at least I had Mila with me for two more days.
After a quick call to the traffic registry, I bought a bag of groceries and hurried home to Mila, updating her on my run-in with Sheana Rene, the call from Cole, and my inquiry with the traffic registry that I’d just made.
“What did they say?” she asked with interest.
“They did have one drone in our area at the time. The person I talked to promised to retrieve data from the flight and send it to me.”
“It’s a lucky thing that you have access to classified information.”
We were in the kitchen, and I leaned against the counter. “Actually, this is public information.”
Mila looked surprised. “Do you mean to say that anytime someone uses a public drone, others can know about it?”
“Only if they go through the trouble of collecting the information.”
“But what if you don’t want people to know where you’re going?”
I lowered my brow. “Like if you’re a celebrity or something?”
“Yes, or you just prefer to live your life without others sticking their nose in it.”
“I’ve never heard that it’s a problem.”
Mila was sitting on my kitchen counter with a glass of apple juice in her hands. “It’s funny, because I’ve always seen myself as a Motlander among Northlanders, but I’m starting to see that in many ways I prefer the Northlands. People here are kind and caring, but the Nmen have a point that there’s a sheep mentality among Motlanders.”
I jerked my head back. “Take that back.”
Her cheeks flamed up. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I question things in a different way than I used to.”
“Good. Then maybe you could question some of the Northland culture too. Like say, the insanity of making men fight and potentially kill each other to marry a woman.” Without looking at her I unpacked the groceries I’d bought. My head was exploding with the stress of my family’s being under attack from the whole country and possibly our own sister. I’d just lost an important ally in Sheana Rene, and the last thing I needed was for Mila to attack me too.
“Jonah, I…" She trailed off before asking in a pleading voice, "Will you look at me, please?”
I turned to see Mila biting her lip with a sad expression.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know.” I emptied my lungs in a noisy exhalation. “I’m just stressed with everything that’s going on right now.” Taking my backpack from the floor I placed it on the counter. “I brought you something.”
Mila took the white gloves I gave her and put them on.
