Page 27 of Kristoff

“Oh man, something smells good,” a man says downstairs.

“We have fajitas today,” Celia replies.

“I’m supposed to take Gerald’s plate, too,” he says.

Kristoff starts moving again, so I can only assume this is a regular customer. He did tell Gerald people would start arriving for dinner any time now.

I pad over to the foot of the bed and settle in on my side. A pang of loss goes through me. I can’t believe I’ve claimed a side of his bed after spending two nights with him. I swallow hard while he stands a few feet away, arms crossed in front of him. Why do I suddenly feel like I’m going to be interrogated?

“Where do I begin?” I ask with a bit of a nervous laugh.

“Well, we can start with the fact you’re a teacher,” he offers.

“Yes, that’s fine. I’m an elementary school teacher at the town up the road.” I catch his gaze. “I still can’t wrap my head around places not having a name.”

“It’s easier to remain hidden,” he states. “People can’t ask about a place when they don’t know what the place is called.”

“True.” I give another weak chuckle. “I wish I’d had the sense to piece everything together when I was offered the job.”

“So you came here to teach?”

“Yes. I didn’t realize there was such a need for teachers abroad. I got an offer I just couldn’t pass up.” I hike my shoulders. “At the time, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to see the world while earning some money.”

“Hmm.” He’s absorbing every word. “I can’t imagine someone of this generation being happy a hundred miles from nowhere, with no amenities.”

Yes, living without a cell phone was a real culture shock. “I was only supposed to be here for one school year.” I can still picture the eager little faces sitting in the classroom, waiting to learn. “But the other teacher in town retired, and I was asked to stay an additional year.”

“Your family was okay with this?” He raises an eyebrow.

“I only have a brother. Dad passed away and our mother left when we were kids.”

“You were able to reach out to him?”

“Yes. I had planned to go home for Christmas, but I had to cancel.” And eat the cost of the plane ticket. “Apparently, I misplaced my passport at some point, so I couldn’t leave.”

“Don’t tell me.” He holds up a hand to stop me. “It was stolen when you were in Georgetown.”

“Likely.” Funny he’d arrive at the same conclusion I did.

“What happened?”

“They offered to fly my brother in for a few days during the holiday.”

Kristoff nods, knowing where the story is headed without needing another hint. “They weren’t going to let you leave, since you’ve seen the setup of their compound.”

“You pieced things together a lot faster than I did.” I was so naïve. I lived through everything and didn’t pick up on what was happening until it was too late. “Apparently, kindergartners tend to overshare. And someone, somewhere was listening to what they said around me.”

“How did you make it out?”

I’ll have to move past this as quickly as possible so he doesn’t ask questions I can’t answer without causing additional problems. “The first step was to sneak onto the back of a truck without getting caught.”

“That’s gutsy.” He nods, his lips pulling to one side.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t get off where I expected, so I ended up here.” I shrug. “And you know the rest.”

“But your backup plan was to walk from here?” His brow furrows. “How did you expect to accomplish that?”

“Faust has two checkpoints along the road after the midpoint. From what I’m told, they’re clearly marked. I should be able to avoid them if I walk through the jungle.”

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