She let him carry her bag down from the bus. Theoretically, he could have been planning to steal it, but she was too tired to care. Besides, she was still keeping a tight grip on her purse, and that had most of her real valuables in it.
“Is someone meeting you?” the tall man asked.
“A friend of mine,” Rina said. “Who works in politics,” she added, hoping that made Amita sound suitably formidable and not someone whose friends should be kidnapped or tampered with.
The tall man tilted his head to one side and looked at her like a large, inquisitive bird.
“If it’s all right with you, I’d like to stay with you until your friend arrives,” he said. “At least let me stay with you until you manage to buy some tea. Someone’s got to make sure that you are getting the correct change.”
“You’ve bee
