The breeze kicked up, jettisoning Zahra from her thoughts. She opened her eyes, spotting a sailboat gently rocking back and forth further out to sea.
And that was the plan. Zahra was on a permanent leave of absence from the museum. It was going to be under construction for months. Plus, everyone that was killed there… It was just too painful to go back to. Dina had been sad to hear that Zahra wouldn’t be returning, but she understood. She was even trying to decide whether or not to stay.
It took Zahra some time, but she was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing when it came to the deadly events at the British Museum. Dina had helped with that. She had told the police that Zahra had spent the night with her and her girlfriend, even going as far as recording videos of a house party that never happened and then backdating the videos to during the time of the museum’s attack.
“You sure Josie can handle this?” Zahra had asked, rightfully skeptical. She knew the woman was good with computers and coding, and dabbled in some less-than-legal hacking and tampering, but to this level?
“Josie is a wiz with stuff like this, Z. Don’t worry about a thing.”
Investigators didn’t take much longer to declare that Zahra had nothing to do with what happened. Explaining Grant’s disappearance was something else altogether. What could she honestly say? The only positive was that he didn’t have any close family nearby. As of now, there was still a missing person’s case centered around him.
And as for Cork…
The front door opened. “Hey, girl, how’s it hangin’?”
Zahra leaped to her feet and rushed inside from the porch to embrace her good friend. Cork and Dina had gotten together to collect Zahra’s things from her London flat.
“You get everything?” Zahra asked.
“Sure did,” Cork replied, sticking her thumb over her shoulder. “Have it all in Vincenzo’s truck.” She grinned. “You have some nice toys, you know?”
Zahra winked and slapped Cork’s shoulder. “I know. Give me a hand?”
The two women headed out front, and with the help of Vincenzo, the newly made millionaire, they brought in the rest of Zahra’s personals.
“Put them anywhere,” Zahra said, moving to the fridge. “I’ll go through everything as the days pass.” She procured three cold beers from the door and handed them out. “Drinks?”
Cork and Vincenzo happily accepted the beverages.
“It really is a nice place, huh?” Cork asked, getting a grin out of the local. “It was ace of you to buy it for Zahra, Vincenzo.”
He gave the women a small bow. “Yes, well, I wouldn’t have anything without her help.” He smiled. “It was the least I could do.”
Zahra lifted her bottle toward him and then drank.
“So,” Cork said in between sips, “I don’t suppose you’d, um, want a roommate?”
Zahra looked around. As amazing as her new home was, it was small, and wouldn’t comfortably sleep more than just Zahra unless she shared her upstairs bed with Cork. But what could she say? None of this would have been possible without the pilot’s aid.
“I mean, I can’t have my hero pilot sleeping on the streets, can I?”
Cork dove at Zahra and gave her a huge bearhug. Luckily, both women had set their beers down before they embraced. The wood floorboards were beautifully stained and decades old, and Zahra wasn’t about to ruin them so soon after moving in.
“Ugh,” Zahra groaned, gasping for air. “Down, girl.”
“Or,” Vincenzo said, getting Zahra and Cork’s attention, “Cork could stay in the next-door cottage.” He flashed a big smile. “I bought that one too.”
Cork released Zahra and dropped her to the floor like a sack of potatoes. She pounded over to Vincenzo, picked up the shorter man, and planted the biggest, wettest kiss on his lips. When they parted, the local looked dazed and concussed.
He shook the cobwebs loose and blushed. “Yes, well, you are very welcome.”
Cork seductively rubbed his arm. “There’s more where that came from.” She gave him a playful wink and brushed by him. “All you have to do is call — you too, Zahra.”
“Cork,” Zahra said, getting up, “I’m not—”
She waved Zahra off. “You know what I mean!” She headed out. “See you later,
It took Zahra three days to figure things out. She ended up donating a lot of her stuff, deciding to try a fresh approach to life. The cottage’s amenities were enough for her. She kept most of her clothes and, of course, her gear — weapons included. Chief Stefano had invited her and Cork to dinner at his home as a sort of welcome to the community. Zahra still couldn’t believe how nice everyone here was.
She climbed the steps to her front door and inserted the key but stopped. Something felt off. It was the first time that Levanzo hadn’t felt like paradise. Zahra drew her Glock from beneath her jacket, keeping it hidden from prying eyes. Not that there was anyone to see it. The property was such that no one could see the front door, except from the road. A narrow, wooded area acted as a natural boundary between her and Cork’s places.
