49. Zola

Chapter 49

Zola

“ A nother employee died.”

“What?” I turned around at Marie’s voice, my heart in my throat. With a horrified look, she nudged her head toward the muted television set in the kitchen. I read the bold text scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

I caught the update that employees were quitting in the droves. I didn't know if this was an exaggeration or not, but it sounded troubling. Clearly, Dante must be well aware of this and occupied with finding a way to control it.

I forced myself to return to the peaches I was slicing up for jam.

I had seen Marie and another housekeeper carrying in a basket of fruits and couldn’t help but beg to participate in preparing them. Making pastries and sweet condiments was a long-lost hobby that I had pushed aside for my career. I thought it would be a comforting thing to return to.

But the fragrant smells of the fruit and sugar cooking couldn’t hold my attention. My mind was alive with worries. Uppermost was Dante’s safety. Without him, everything would be pointless.

I waited impatiently until Dante returned home. I tried my best to hide the strain in my neck but being ever vigilant he caught it.

“It still hurts?” he asked.

I shook my head. “It’s fine.” I was more concerned about him. He looked exhausted. I rushed to him and gave him a tight hug.

He embraced me just as hard and I could feel the exhaustion and the stiffness of his body.

“You’re back much earlier than I expected,” I said.

He pulled away and nodded. Looking down at me he tenderly brushed my hair out of my eyes.

“I need to speak to you,” he said and my nerves slightly tightened.

“Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good.”

He smiled. “I think I’m going to be arrested. At least, I expect to be in a few hours. They don’t know about this place so there’s no point giving them the opportunity to find it so I’ll be in my apartment in the city for a bit.”

“Oh,” I said, now thoroughly panicked.

“Why would you be- I mean …” I couldn’t string a sentence together.

“They’re pretending they need me to cooperate with their investigation, but they’ll be using it as a chance to try to extract some information about your whereabouts. They’re getting desperate to find your location so they’ll try to intimidate me as much as they can.”

“How?” I asked.

“Doesn't matter,” he said. “I’ve come back early to give you a heads up and to explain the state of things. You’re not to worry. We’ll get through it.”

I could do nothing but nod at his words, but then as I watched him rise to his feet and proceed to leave, I couldn’t help but get up as well.

“What about me?” I asked, my heart pounding in my chest. “What can I do to help? I mean, shouldn’t I surface and tell them you rescued me?”

He shook his head. “If you surface now, you’re as good as dead … and Matthew would have died for nothing.”