“The truth is, I was scared to death Eitan wouldn’t survive. He missed two months of work, rarely ate or changed clothes. He slept on a couch because he couldn’t stand waking up in the bed they’d shared. The thought of living paralyzed him. I’d find him standing in the hallway or the back yard and he couldn’t remember how he got there or why. He’d be in the kitchen and not know if he ate. He was afraid to turn the stove on for fear he’d burn his house down.”
Rowe grimaced. He should have caught that—the chronic ache that had nothing to do with physical pain and everything to do with a shattered spirit, knowing it couldn’t be fixed. It made sense now—the talking picture, never wanting to go home, burying himself in his work.
At another time, that was Rowe.
The corners of Kali’s mouth tugged up in a wan smile. “I wish you’d known Eitan before—not better, just different. Something fundamental in him changed after her death.”
“Is he seeing anyone?” Rowe had been sure he never would until Kali stumbled through that conference room door.
“That’s one more failure he can’t come to terms with. His wife made him promise to find someone new, but he says he can’t, and it tears him apart to lie to her.”
“How did he get himself back to work?”
Kali looked through Rowe. “One morning, two months ago, he woke up and declared it over. He took a few steps outside and the world didn’t close in on him. He spoke a question and didn’t hear his wife’s voice. He spent five whole days watching the sun rise in the east and set in the west, and decided it was similar to what used to be. He replaced all his furniture and realized he could keep living if no one expected much. Since then, he takes life a day at a time. I think helping you, Zeke, did Eitan a lot of good.”
James cleared his throat. “Anyway, if your Navy gig doesn’t work out, just wanted you to know you had options.” He shook her hand and left.
Rowe gave her a quizzical look. “What was that?”
“The Navy asked me to work with their people to add DNA security to the system firewalls so NEV or its cousins will no longer be a problem. They’re naming the project after Cat.”
Rowe drove Kali home, but he didn’t turn the car off when they reached her building. He might as well ask, even though he was pretty sure what both the Navy and James offered were better choices. Still, if he learned anything these last weeks, it was not to make decisions for her.
“In my write-up on the Israeli dig, I want to include a theoretic but evidence-based conclusion of what brought descendants of the three species out of Africa. I could use your help.”
She didn’t even take time to think. “Yes, if you add my name when you publish. It’s time I started looking after myself. I have a son to put through college.”
She sat in the car, glancing between her front door and Rowe.
“I can’t believe how much I miss Annie. How did she get inside me so fast?” She leaned into his shoulder. “Can I stay with you until Sean comes home? I don’t want to be alone when I figure out if Wyn was my father.”
“That second DNA sample I ran.”
Kali hung her head. “How could he ask me to marry him? He must have known.”
Without waiting, she raced into her apartment, returning in five minutes with a duffle bag and an envelope.
“I got a response from the Berkeley Geochronology Center.” She tore the letter open. “The age of the bone Cariole found under Wyn is 1.8 million years old. They want to meet me.”
Rowe left shortly after they arrived, something about talking to Bobby James, and Kali used the time to think through everything that happened the last months. It came to one surprising conclusion: She didn’t want to get rid of Otto, not because of his intellectual powers or because he had become what she proposed to DARPA. The real reason was personal. How could she say good-bye to Lucy? Lucy’s life experiences, how she cared for her family and solved her problems, had taught Kali more than any other person in Kali’s life. Lucy was a best friend who didn’t judge or use others. Kali had no one to fill those giant shoes.
The front door opened. Rowe smiled a greeting but had his phone glued to his ear.
“Hello? I’m calling from the United States. I was hoping to talk to the sisters of Laslo Hemren…”
As Rowe talked, Kali reached into her purse and pulled out the letter Detective Cariole had given her. The brittle adhesive cracked open to reveal three sheets of linen paper. Kali curled into Rowe’s couch and began to read.
Dear Kali. I have much to tell you…
Want More?
Read the next in the Rowe-Delamagente series, Twenty-four Days:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072NZF8N8/
Find out more about Lucy (from To Hunt a Sub) in the spin-off novel, Born in a Treacherous Time:
Summer 2018
Look for Book #3 in the series:
Summer 2019
About the Author
J. Murray lives in California with her spouse and the world’s greatest dog. She was a geek before that became popular and has been teaching K-12 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources and an adjunct professor in tech ed. This is her first work of fiction and the first in the Rowe-Delamagente series.
Sign up to be notified when Born in a Treacherous Time, the first in the Evolution Files series, is available. Find out how Lucy, her child, and her mate survive despite everything Nature can throw at them.
You can find J. Murray on her blog, WordDreams:
http://worddreams.wordpress.com
And on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/WordDreams
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