“No. I haven’t really thought that far ahead.”
“Well, I know it might not matter, but I thought you would have made a hell of a Voyager.” I gave her a one-armed hug. “I hope that our Tides will cross further downstream.”
Her smile wobbled, and she let the bag slide down to the ground again, pulling me in for a full hug. “Thank you.”
Chapter 34
Water Seeks its own Level
My living quarters looked nearly identical to how I’d left them. Much like when Yeshar had pilfered my mirror, it didn’t appear at a glance like anything was missing or out of place. The typical low level of squalor we lived in was seemingly untouched.
There were no rips in the strewn about clothing, no stains or signs that he’d done any damage to my property at all.
And yet, from our conversation, he had definitely searched the room. Or had it searched by someone else.
Was anything missing? I made a quick mental inventory, checking off each item as I located it. There was a possibility I was forgetting a few unimportant items, but everything I valued was still here. So why would he…
Wait.
The box Henrik had given me was missing. The rope that he’d tied around it was broken on the floor, but the box and its contents were gone.
He wouldn’t.
I needed to pack, but more urgently I needed to find out what Henrik had hidden in that box.
Henrik opened the door to his room on my first knock, his affable expression from our earlier conversation slipping when he saw my face. “What’s wrong?”
I slipped past him into his room, waiting until he’d closed the door behind me. His room also appeared unmolested.
“The box you gave me is gone.”
“What!?” His pupils shrank to pinpricks, all color draining from his face.
“Someone broke into my room, went through all of my possessions, and took it. It was the only thing they took.”
Henrik swore and began pacing.
He looked like a trapped animal. I already knew the answer, but I needed to hear him say it. I spoke in a careful tone. “What was in the box, Henrik?”
His face was grim. “Doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does,” I gritted out. “Having someone snoop through my stuff is not a graduation surprise. I held onto it for you for months. Now tell me what the hell you had me holding.”
He continued to pace. I kept quiet even though I wanted to grab him and squeeze the truth out. More secrets spilled loose when you stayed silent.
Another minute of pacing went by. Finally he relented. “A list.”
Please let me be wrong.
“To what?”
“It was a contact list,” he admitted. “Of Yeshar’s dust suppliers and clients.”
Any hope I’d been clinging to sank down below the miasma.
“Why did you have Yeshar’s contact list?”
“I needed something to keep him off my back. Just shut up for a minute and let me think.”
