Chapter 17 #2
She didn’t have time to celebrate. She hurriedly closed out the programs on Trista’s computer, grabbed her own laptop, and
went back to her office. After dumping her laptop at her desk, she rushed out to see what the commotion was.
Far down the hall, a huge vase of flowers had been overturned from its pedestal, leaving a mess of water, pottery shards, and dahlia, snapdragon, sweet pea, and gardenia flowers everywhere.
Dante stood over the chaos, strangely dressed in a faded tracksuit and a set of AirPods in his ears.
He waved his hands at two sleepy maids who had just arrived on the scene.
“What happened?” Aida asked as she drew near.
Dante looked at her, horrified. “I bumped into it. I was . . .” He trailed off, holding his phone awkwardly. Before he turned
the screen off, Aida could see it was open to a TikTok video. Social media wasn’t banned on the MODA phones, but Aida hated
the idea of the company tracking everything she did and never used it while she was in the palazzo. Dante was clearly flustered
to have her see him in such disarray. “I apologize if I bothered you, Miss Reale.”
“No, no bother. I couldn’t sleep. I was reading in my office,” she said. It must have been Dante who had paused in the hallway,
caught by some video.
“We’ll have it cleaned up right away.”
Aida nodded and made her way back to her office. She fell into her plush desk chair and sat there, staring at the closed laptop
on her desk.
After her heart had stopped its frenetic dance, she opened the laptop and logged back on, grateful to finally have some sort
of network access on a personal device within the palazzo, even if she hardly dared use it. She opened Signal and typed a
message to Yumi. You got what you needed?
A few moments later, Yumi replied.
Not exactly, but I have enough information to dig further. Find me tomorrow.
Aida could hardly sleep. She had sent one brief Signal to Luciano to let him know the task was complete, and afterward she lay in bed thinking about the break-in, the danger she was in, and that her whole life had suddenly been turned on its head.
At some point, she drifted into dreams, and when her alarm sounded at 7:00 a.m., Aida’s only thought was to turn it off and keep sleeping.
A knock on the door later that morning startled her awake.
“Aida?”
Fuck. It was Trista. Aida sat up. Does she know?
She glanced at the bedside clock and saw it was nearly nine. “I’m coming!” She swung her feet off the bed and into her slippers.
“I overslept.”
Aida grabbed her robe and went to the door. When she opened it, Trista nearly fell in.
She straightened herself. “Well, out of all days to shirk your duty, I suppose this is a good one. I came to tell you the
museum had a break-in last night, and you won’t be able to return until after the investigation is wrapped up.” Trista’s brow
was furrowed. She was wringing her hands, clearly irritated. It must be an actual break-in and not something MODA had planned.
And even better, she didn’t appear to know about Aida’s intrusion in her office.
“What did they steal?”
“They aren’t sure of everything yet, but so far, they’ve only verified two tiny marble busts on a table below the painting
of Cardinal Bernardino Spada are missing. But weirder, the burglars knocked all the oranges off the trees in the courtyard,
and they forked the lawn. Thousands of forks.”
Aida couldn’t keep her jaw from falling open. “Wait, they forked the lawn? Like a high schooler would? I thought that was
a US thing.”
“I’d never heard of it. But the entire lawn was full of plastic forks.”
Aida kept herself from smiling at Trista’s rare admission of ignorance. “Doesn’t the museum have cameras everywhere?”
“The thieves cut the power, so they didn’t work.”
It was a lesser-known, privately owned museum, and Aida guessed they might have thought they would never need to worry about having a generator to keep the cameras from going down.
“Did they harm the Borromini?”
Trista shook her head. “But they put all the fallen oranges in neat lines on the arcade path leading to the statue of Pompey.
An elaborate prank.”
“What on earth?” Aida couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“At any rate, they won’t be allowing you back in for at least the next two weeks until they complete the investigation and
do a thorough inventory. You have some time to yourself. Take a vacation.”
“Oh,” Aida said, stunned at this turn of events.
“Or go back to sleep if you want.” She headed back down the hall, and when she turned the corner, Aida retreated back into
her room to ring down to the kitchen to have them bring her some coffee.
It was Pippa who delivered it. “You done good, yeah?” she asked in a low voice as she deposited a tray of coffee and cornetti
filled with Nutella on the table.
“I think so. I’m not the one making sense of things, but what you did helped me get the information I needed. I owe you one.”
“Don’t fret, it ain’t nuffin’. I hope ya find what yer lookin’ for. If ya need anythin’, let Ilario and me know. These people
ain’t normal, and us lot doin’ their dirty work need to look out for each other.”
Aida had to smile at Pippa’s offer of solidarity. If she knew ancient Greek gods were involved, the sous-chef might change
her mind.
“I wish there were a shot of sambuca in that coffee,” she joked.
Pippa nodded in approval. “Yer wish is my command, luv. I’ll be back in a jiffy with yer liquid courage.”
“I was joking, Pippa. But also, I thought it was liquid hope?”
“Today it’s courage, innit? You seem like ya might need it.”
Aida sighed. “I do, I do.”
“Cor, then I’ll be bringin’ ya some. No, no, arguin’.”
After Aida had dressed and downed the caffè corretto Pippa brought with a heavier dose of sambuca than she was used to, she headed out of the palazzo toward Piazza Navona, feeling
a little fuzzy but glad for the warming liquor.
When she arrived at Yumi’s rented flat, she was surprised to find Felix there.
He folded her into a hug. “Dear god, Aida, what have you gotten yourself into?”
Aida couldn’t help but laugh. “Felix, you seem to forget that it was you who got me into this mess!”
“Ahh, yes, I suppose I did,” he said sheepishly. “I am sorry about that. Never again will I try to help you find your dream
job.”
Yumi put a finger to her lips to shush them. “You can put your things in my bedroom.” Yumi gestured at Aida’s purse.
When Aida returned from depositing her MODA phone where it wouldn’t register their conversation, Yumi waved them to sit on
the couch and launched into an elaborate explanation of how she attempted to hack into the MODA database. It was all over
Aida’s head, and between her lack of sleep and the spiked coffee, Aida found it difficult to concentrate.
Felix finally snapped. “Stop! Can you simplify? You’re putting Aida to sleep.”
Aida startled at the sound of her name.
“Sorry. Let me make you a caffè.” She headed to the open kitchen but didn’t stop her explanation. “Long story short—I can see how the information gets to
the database, but getting into it is, well, unusual. There seems to be some sort of key that is needed to unlock it.”
“A key?” Aida asked over the sound of the espresso machine.
“Yes, but it’s not like any other sort of passcode or access point I’ve ever seen.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” Felix said.
“It’s not. I don’t know what I can do at this point. I need to know more about the database.”
Aida groaned. “And where are we going to find out that information? We don’t even know where the database is.”
“That’s not true.” Yumi came around the edge of the bar to bring Aida her espresso. “I think it’s in London.”
“But you aren’t sure?”
“The IP address is attached to a firewall that obscures the precise location, but that address is in London and since MODA
is based there, it’s my logical conclusion. But standing in front of it doesn’t get me the key.”
“We also don’t have any idea where it might be in London. It seems odd that it would be at the hotel,” Aida pointed out. “I
mean, they must only go there for meetings. I can’t imagine they run the business out of there.”
“Unlikely, unless MODA somehow owns the building.”
Felix chuckled. “Well, if you say we’re dealing with ancient gods, then why not?”
Her personal cell phone buzzed in her pocket. “It’s Luciano.”
“Go ahead, take it. We’ll watch.” Yumi exchanged an amused glance with Felix.
Aida rolled her eyes at them and took the call, smiling when she saw him brush away a lock of dark hair that had fallen into
his eyes.
Yumi waved at her. “Tell him about the app!”
Aida turned the phone around to introduce Luciano to Yumi, who he hadn’t yet met. She gave him the lowdown on the voice-canceling
app, then Aida told him about the two break-ins: their attempt at the laptop, and the chaos at Palazzo Spada. “But the good
news is that I’ve got two weeks off—which is two weeks without Trista always bothering me.”
“They’ll still track you,” Felix pointed out.
“But it’s less suspicious if I go places on vacation.”
“I’m due for a vacation,” Luciano said wistfully.
Felix raised his voice. “Come to Rome. That’s where the party is.”
Luciano shook his head. “I’ve been thinking, if they are tracking us, they’ll see that we know each other, which is risky.”
Aida’s heart began to flutter at the idea of Luciano coming to Rome, but she knew he was right. In London, they were both
supposed to be there. And now that she had explicit instructions to stop turning off her phone, that would make it even harder
because MODA would track them to the same locations.
With a heavy heart, she changed the subject. “Have you had any luck with Dolores?”
Luciano shook his head. “I tried asking her more about MODA, but she seems suspicious of my motives. And I’m not sure I can
trust anyone else in the chateau. I’m going to try a different tactic. Today, I’m working at the Luxembourg Gardens, focusing
on the beehives and the beekeeping school.”
“Oh dear god, not the bees!” Yumi exclaimed.
Luciano nodded. “I know. But I’m going to see if I can learn more from the school headmaster about how MODA works with him.”
He looked at his watch. “I need to get going. I’ll let you know if I learn anything.” He gave a wave, and then the call went
black.
Felix began gathering his things. “I need to go too. Have a tour to give in twenty minutes. Stay out of trouble.”
Yumi plopped down on the couch next to Aida when he was gone. “Are you sure about the whole ancient god thing?”
Aida sighed. “You don’t believe me?”
“I do. You’re Miss History, not Miss Fantasy. But you have to admit, it seems so far-fetched.”
“I wish it weren’t real.” As the words left Aida’s lips, the emotion of the last few days overcame her, and she began to cry.
Yumi folded her friend into her arms.
“We’ll figure it out. You aren’t alone in this,” she said, smoothing Aida’s hair. “We’ve figured out a lot so far, haven’t we?”
Aida nodded, then pulled away before she soaked too much of Yumi’s blouse. She wiped her eyes with her hands. “We have. And
you know what I’m good at?”
Yumi raised an eyebrow.
“Research. I want to know everything I can about this whole thing. About these MODA gods, now that we know who they are. Maybe
we’ll find a connection to a key.”
“Now you’re talking.” Yumi jumped off the couch to grab her laptop. “And we should search for information on Euphrosyne too.
The database is only one component of this whole thing according to Sophie.”
Aida didn’t want to mention that it was likely the captive didn’t have the key to her own cage. But she couldn’t just sit
there—she had to do something, anything, to not focus on the fact that everything she had once loved about her work in Rome
had completely and utterly changed.