Now’s the time to test Leticia’s loyalty to her family.
Royal:
Food was delicious, we had Thanksgiving again since the first one was kind of ruined with work and then a wedding and some funerals.
Company, however, just wanted to talk about work and get on my case about getting shit done.
Leticia:
So I take it your family doesn’t have a ‘no work at the dinner table’ rule? We do, but that means a lot of meals are silent because Berto and Dad don’t know how to talk about anything else.
Royal:
Nah, we talked about rugby and some other stuff too, but there are some urgent things going on that need my attention.
I click my work mouse,and my usual nightly scans are running as they should. No new notifications on Antonella’s phones for anything that would be suspicious. No new disasters out at my 3D printers. There is a warning for a storehouse with a couple attempts to get into it, but it’s Uncle Neil’s number again.
What is it with him and passwords, and why is he so busy lately? I thought we were slowing down business operations with the truce and the holidays?
My phone vibrates, drawing me away from verifying the daily log entries.
Leticia:
No talking about work.
Would you rather have a secret that you couldn’t tell anyone or have to tell someone everything?
I drummy fingers on the desk, looking at my phone.If I pushed hard enough, would she tell me that her family wants her to spy on us?
Royal:
That one is hard. It’s a ‘it depends’ for me. What kind of secret? Who is the person I have to tell everything to? All my thoughts? Everything I do?
I’m leaning toward having to tell someone everything. At bare minimum, there’s a chance they’d go down with me as an accomplice or accomplice after the fact. Best case scenario: I get a friend who takes some of the icky off some of the work I do. I wouldn’t be alone in some of the trenches.
What about you?
I just gaveher so many opportunities to ask probing questions and figure out more about what we do — whatIdo — so she could report to Gregorio and Berto.
Leticia:
Can we call?
Unexpected.My wolf tries to weasel his way closer to the screen, like getting closer to the monitor will put us closer to where she is.
Royal:
Of course. Call when ready.
The temptation arisesto put her on surround sound in my room so that I can hear her voice all around me, but I slip my earbuds in instead.
When the phone rings, I hesitate.Should I record this call?
“Hey.” I answer before the second ring, pushing the recording idea out of my head. I can always start it if I need to.
“Hey.” Leticia’s voice is quiet but also small, almost vulnerable.
“You okay?” I watch on the screen as she rolls onto her side, the phone resting on the pillow next to her.
