Chapter 7
3200 Words
They didn’t talk a lot on the ride back to the hotel. Both of them were thinking about how they were going to get the key to the clue without being seen. Kesia tried to pitch the idea of sending someone else but Luke quickly informed her that such an action was not allowed. He then suggested that they put masks on, like their seekers had done in Cape Town. After talking about it a while they decided that that plan only works if the place is secluded and private. In a crowd, like this would most likely be, they would just draw attention to themselves if they were wearing masks. After that they were both quiet.
”What happens if we split up?” said Kesia suddenly.
”Well splitting up is certainly an option, they have to catch us together in a picture to win the round, but if they can prove to the commission that we split up we could loose points.”
”So, basically, we aren’t allowed to split up?”
”In the same way they aren’t allowed to hold us captive.”
”So we can split up for two hours?”
”Yes, I mean, they can’t expect us to stick together non stop for three weeks.”
Kesia thought about that for a moment.
”Wouldn’t it be very hard for them to prove to the commission that we split up?”
”Yes, especially if it’s in a crowded place.”
”But do they have the same information that we have? I mean, do they know about the cathedral?”
”No, not automatically. They can trade points for information so they could have traded one point to get the information about the cathedral, for example.”
”But how did they know about the fortress?”
”I don’t know.”
Back at the hotel they both laid down for a bit and Kesia fell asleep. The last 24 hours had been insane and they were both tired and needed to regroup their brains. While she slept, Kesias brain processed all the information from the last couple of days. She had definitely learned new things, become more experienced and also travelled to new parts of the world. When she woke up, the first light from the sun was casting a warm light high up on the wall next to her. She lifted up her head to make sure Luke was in place on the couch. And there he was, snoring away. She smiled a little when she realized that she had slept through the night without waking up from that noise even once. The next thing she registered was a deep hunger. She immediately lifted the phone and called the front desk to put in a breakfast order. Like last time, she ordered everything she could think of. When she had hung up the phone she looked at her cellphone and saw that she had three missed calls, all from Cornelia. At first, she sighed but then she realized that Cornelia might have news for them about the other team, the one that had withdrawn from the competition. Kesia got up from the bed and found a robe to wrap herself in. She then walked with heavy steps to the couch and gave Luke a nudge to wake him up. It was not enough so she gave him another one, a harder one. He just made a sound and shifted position. Kesia shook her head and gave him a push that nearly made him fall off the couch. He woke with a twitch and sat up.
”What do you want with me woman?”
Kesia laughed a little.
”I think I’ve made it clear that what I want is for you to wake up” she said and gave him the phone. ”Cornelia has called again, I guess we should call her back, huh?”
Luke sat up properly and took the phone. He called Cornelia up and put her on speaker.
”Good morning! How’s Assisi treating you?” she answered.
”Pretty good!” answered Luke and added ”so far, at least”.
”Glad to hear it. And how are you Kesia?”
”I’m good. Learning something new every day.”
”Wonderful! So, I have some new information to share with you about the drop-outs.”
”Great” said Luke, ”we are very curious about what made them withdraw. Did they find something out? Did they break a rule?”
”No, nothing like that, as it turns out. They were apparently both first timers which the commission recommends against so they offered them a sum of money to pull out early. The team decided to take the deal.”
”That feels fishy” said Luke.
”Yes, I agree. I will keep digging but we have to be prepared for disappointment here. If the commission wants to hide something from us, they will go through lengths to do so.”
”Yes, thank you, Cornelia. We’ll talk to you later.”
Luke hung up the phone and gave it to Kesia.
”It is in our advantage you know, that one of the other teams dropped out, so we shouldn’t spend too much time thinking about it” he said, to himself as much as he said it to Kesia.
”Was it one of the European teams?”
”No, one of the American I think”.
”But do they follow the same itinerary as we do? Were they also supposed to be in Assisi?”
”No, each team has its own destinations. We are the only ones in Assisi right now. Another team might come through here but not at the same time as we do.”
Kesia din’t have time to think about what that meant before there was a knock on the door and the breakfast arrived. She was instantly reminded of her own extreme hunger and got up to open the door. Luke stopped her before she could grab the handle.
”Who is it?” he said, loudly.
”Roomservice, sir. You ordered breakfast?”
”Did you order breakfast?” he asked Kesia.
”Yes, of course I did” she said and reached for the handle again. Luke grabbed her hand and stopped her a second time.
”Just leave it outside the door, please” he said to the poor man on the other side.
”Ok, sir” he replied and soon, he was gone.
Luke opened the door quickly and rolled in the little wagon full of breakfast food. Kesia put everything on the table and sat down in the couch while biting down on a piece of bread. Luke poured them both some coffee and sat down beside her.
”So”, he said, ”we still need to come up with a plan”.
”Yes. Any ideas?”
”A bait.”
”What do you mean ’bait’?”
”We spread a rumor that something exciting will happen at the Cathedral of san Rufino, maybe a celebrity or a give away or something?”
”And then what?”
”Then we take advantage of the situation. When it’s super crowded, we sneak in and get our key.”
Kesia nodded.
”That might just work.”
”I think so. And that way we don’t risk any penalty by splitting up. We could sit in a café close by and chill until it’s time.”
”Should we wear sunglasses and hoods?”
”Sure, why not? It will be sunny I think.”
Luke apparently had a contact, some kind of influencer, that could quickly spread news on social media. All it took was the promise of a part of the prize if they won. Close to the cathedral there was a café that had a few tables on the street, even though the street was extremely narrow and cars drove on it. Kesia marveled at everyone who had the guts to drive on the narrow streets of Assisi, Luke included. She herself would never do it. The buildings were beautifully built in natural stone, close together. Some alleys wasn’t even a meter wide. Kesia ordered an espresso and enjoyed the few sun rays that found their way down between the buildings. Luke looked at his watch.
”Just a few minutes now” he said.
”What did you have your influencer friend write?”
”I had him promise selfies to the first hundred people to come and touch the statue of Saint Clare today at 2pm.”
”Selfies? Will that work?”
”Yes.”
Luke took a sip of his espresso and looked at his watch again. Kesia looked around to see if maybe their seekers showed. She couldn’t see them. When it was five minutes left Lukes, friend showed up. Luke got up from his seat.
”Hi man” the stranger said and did a weird handshake with him. ”This better help you win the game. Daddy want a piece of the pie!”
”Thanks for doing this, man, it means a lot.”
After that, Lukes friend looked really quickly at Kesia and then said something to Luke in Italian. Luke scoffed at him.
”Don’t be like that” he said and looked at Kesia, ”Kessie, this is Ricardo, he’s my friend and a very popular local influencer. Everybody knows him, that is why our plan will definitely work.”
”Hey girl” said Ricardo and just moved his head a little as a greeting.
”Hi. Thanks for this.”
”No problem” said Ricardo and took Lukes espresso from him, drank it all and gave him back the empty cup. ”I’ll see you after” he said and went inside the cathedral.
”Our moment is closing in. Are you ready?”
”Yes, all we are going to do is go inside, find the right safety deposit box, open it, take what’s inside and then go back outside again, right?”
”Exactly. Sound easy enough. We also need to keep an eye out for our seekers.”
They sat for a couple of more minutes, watching the people gather, more and more of them showed up. Luke finally stood up.
”Let’s go” he said to Kesia and she got up.
They put on their sunglasses and walked across the square through the crowd. At the entrance they had to wait because of all the people. Kesia felt her heart racing. Carefully she looked around for their seekers but could not spot them anywhere. It was extremely crowded now and she realized that she had lost Luke. Instinctively she wanted to call for him but she realized that that could blow the cover completely so she figured that she would meet him by the safety deposit boxes. Sweat started to break through in her forehead and she became nervous. Which way was the boxes even? Where should she go? She ended up turning right and walked towards the bathroom sign. Maybe the boxes were by the bathrooms. Luckily, she was right. She found the boxes and Luke. He was just about to open the box when she showed.
”There you are!” he said when he saw her. ”Wanna do the honors?”
Kesia stepped forward and reached into the box when Luke opened it. She found an envelope in there and was quick to put it in her bag. This time, Luke grabbed her by the hand before they went into the crowd so that they wouldn’t loose each other.
Back at the hotel they caught their breath in piece before even looking at the key. Kesia even started thinking about what they were going to eat for lunch. Really late lunch, she realized, since it was already well past 2pm. Luke sat on the couch for a bit before he reached for the bag with the key. He took it out and Kesia got the paper with the clue on it. Luke put them together.
”A, S, I, N, A, L, S” he read.
Kesia just looked at the letters.
”I can’t think when they are all scrambled” she said and started tearing up the envelope. On each piece she wrote a letter and then she started puzzling them together in different orders. Luke walked over to the side table to get himself a glass of water. There was a knock on the door and Luke walked over there to open it.
”Who is it?”
The answer was in Italian and Luke smiled and opened it.
”Welcome Ric!” he said when Ricardo walked in. Luke turned to Kesia.
”I told him to come by when he was done.”
”Hi” Ricardo said and looked at Kesia. ”Kesia, right?”
”Thats right. And you were… Ricardo. Thank you for your sacrifice today.”
”It was hardly a sacrifice. I do this every once in a while and if I can do it to help a friend it’s even better” he said and looked at Luke.
”How do you guys know each other?”
Luke looked at Ricardo and Ricardo looked at Luke.
”You can tell her” said Ricardo.
”We met for the first time in first grade when we started in the same class. Ricardo was quite the troublemaker and I was the one who was always there to get him out of trouble. We followed each other through middle school and then I continued educating myself and Ric here dropped out. We kept in touch though, and one day he got all famous.”
”And you left for Sweden.”
”Right. When we were teenagers I went through some tough times. That’s actually when I met Cornelia. She was in town for business and found me. She offered me to come with her to Sweden so I did. My life has been so much better ever since.”
”And mine” Ricardo added and they laughed a little.
”Cornelia just brought you back to Sweden? How does that work? What did your father say?”
Luke waited a few seconds before he answered.
”Back then, he didn’t really care.”
”There were other things that he cared a hell of lot more about than that” Ricardo added.
Luke just looked at him.
”Besides, I had just turned eighteen and could do whatever I wanted really.”
”I’m so sorry” said Kesia. ”But we saw your dad the other day.”
”Yes, we’re good now.”
”You are?” asked Ricardo, ”that’s great, man! How is old Don these days?”
”Oh, he’s alright. He works a lot. I don’t get to see him much.”
”And you guys are just traveling the world, enjoying yourself? Seems like a nice deal.”
”It’s hardly a vacation” said Kesia, ”we have to be on our toes all the time.”
”And that is just about as much as we can tell you!” said Luke before Kesia could continue.
”Right, sorry” she said and got up from the couch. ”Ric, will you stay for some drinks and general social exchange?”
”Don’t mind if I do! Would love to catch up with old Luke here and get to know you better as well” he said and gave Kesia a wink. She chose to ignore it.
”I’ll just go order us some snacks then” she said and went into the bedroom where the phone was.
”Dude” Ric whispered as soon as she had left the room, ”what’s your deal? You a couple?”
”Er, no, not really…” said Luke, a little startled by his question.
”So, are you okay with me making a move?”
”Making a move? What are you going to do with her? We leave a couple of days from now…”
”You know what I mean” Ricardo said and smiled.
Luke was about to answer when Kesia came into the room again.
”The snacks are ordered, should arrive in a couple of minutes” she said and sat back down on the couch next to Ricardo.
”So, Ric, can I call you Ric?”
”Darling, you can call me whatever you want” he answered.
Kesia just laughed and Luke looked terrified.
”Hey, Ric, can I talk to you in the other room?”
”Why? I’m so comfortable here” he said and moved a little closer to Kesia.
There was a knock on the door and Luke went to open. He returned a few seconds later with the snacks and the bottles of wine Kesia had ordered.
”So, tell me about yourself” Ricardo said to Kesia while pouring wine into their glasses.
”I think it’s a little too early for that” Kesia answered and looked at Luke.
”Yes” Luke filled in, ”let’s have a drink first and you can tell us how everything went down at the cathedral.”
Ricardo rolled his eyes.
”It went down as it always does when I announce a public appearance. It is fun in the beginning, and then it is a drag. That’s why I don’t do it too often.”
”How come you decided to be an influencer if you don’t like being famous?”
”I din’t know I wasn’t gonna like it when I started out. And now I don’t know what I would do instead. It’s not like a have a lot of skills to keep a steady income.”
”Neither do I” said Luke and took a sip of his wine, ”but I’m doing okay anyway.”
”Yes, well, you have a benefactor.”
”True.”
Ricardo turned to Kesia.
”Are you also one of Cornelias charity cases?”
”Charity cases? What do you mean?”
”He means nothing!” said Luke, a little upset, ”He’s just goofing around.”
Ricardo stopped talking and drank some wine. They were all quiet for a while.
”So” Kesia started to break the silence. ”Do you have plans tonight or are you going to grace us with your presence a bit longer?”
Ricardo smiled.
”If there were other plans I forgot about them the moment I laid my eyes on you” he said.
Kesia smiled, almost laughed a little bit.
”Wow, that is a really cheesy line!”
”Did you like it?”
”Actually yes, I did. It’s a welcome break from the grumpiness I usually have to deal with.”
She took a sip of her wine and peered at Luke who scoffed back at her.
”Look who’s talking” he said.
Ricardo looked at them both and created some distance between Kesia and himself on the couch.
”Sorry, I thought you guys were not a couple… I don’t want to end up in the middle of anything.”
”You’re not!” said Kesia and put her hand on his knee, ”Really, come back here” she said and he moved back, even closer than before. Luke tightened his jaw and closed his eyes. He calmly put down his glass on the table and stood up.
”Ric, I think you should go. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Ricardo looked confused and put his arm around Kesia.
”I believe the lady invited me to stay as long as I wanted” he said and didn’t look like he was going anywhere. Kesia looked at Luke, stood up and walked over to him.
”Luke, what’s the matter?” she whispered.
”He’s bad news, Kessie, believe me” he whispered back and looked at her with a serious gaze.
Kesia felt insulted.
”You don’t trust my judgement” she said and went back to the couch.
”Look, Ricardo, you seem like a nice guy and all but I’m not really interested. I thought we could have a nice time anyway, you seem like the kind of person who might be up for a good time but something tells me that Luke here is going to make that really hard for us.”
Ricardo looked at Luke and shrugged.
”You can’t blame a man for trying” he said and stood up. ”Luke, I don’t know when I’ll see you again but this was a real bummer. Let me know when you win the game and I’ll tell you how to wire the money. Bye.”
And just like that Ricardo was gone. Kesia sat quietly on the couch and Luke didn’t move from his spot. They both took a few sips of wine in silence and after a while Kesia broke the silence.
”I’m getting really tired of you treating me like I’m an innocent defenseless little girl who can’t take care of myself. I am not yours to protect, Luke.”
Luke din’t say anything. Kesia got up from the couch and headed for the bedroom.
”Kesia, wait!” he said and she stopped.
”Yes?”
”You might not think you’re mine to protect but I’m not gonna stop doing it. And you might hate that I treat you like an innocent girl but I’m not gonna stop doing that either.”
”Why?”
”Because it’s instinct. I can’t help it.”
Kesia scoffed and rolled her eyes at him before she went into the bedroom and closed the door.
- Writer
