Claire Gulliver #03 - Intrigue in Italics by Gayle Wigglesworth Page B

crying. While her sobs had diminished, the tears still oozed from her eyes, trailing down her cheeks. She couldn’t seem to stop, but she said the wet cloth helped her head.
    Abruptly she sat up. “There, turn it up.” She listened intently and repeated in English for Claire. “No survivors from the two buildings. Four people on the street were killed and sixteen more were injured from debris, some seriously.”
    She turned and looked at Claire. “If you hadn’t found me I would have been one more casualty.” She looked as horrified as Claire felt. This time Claire cried too until she finally went in the bathroom to get a damp cloth for her own head.
    Kristen had attempted to call the authorities on two different occasions but the lines were apparently jammed with calls. Now she stood up and gathered her things announcing she was going home; she would try to call the police again later. It wasn’t until she realized she would have to walk, having parked her bike as usual in the storage room at the store that Claire realized her bike was also gone. She groaned. It would take a lot of effort to explain this to the bike rental shop. She suspected she had bought the bike.
    Since Kristen was determined to go home, Claire decided to go with her, feeling responsible for her now that she had resurrected her, so to speak. She wanted to make sure she made it home safely. But before she turned off the television Kristen put up her hand to stop her. Her face drained of color as she looked at Claire.
    “It was a bomb. They said it was a bomb in that little alley we use between the two buildings. It’s like the bombing of the Uffizi a few years back. Someone parked a car full of explosives right next to the museum and detonated it. Luckily, it was at night so no one was around at the time.”
    Claire felt the blood drain from her face as what Kristen said registered. “But I parked my bike in that alley.” She shook her head trying to clear it. “And there wasn’t any car there. In fact the alley is so narrow I don’t think a car would fit there.”
    Abruptly she collapsed on the edge of the bed. “There were only some bikes. And there was the bike with the big box on the back. The guy with the brown suit left it there. I saw him.”
    Stiffly she turned to Kristen, forcing the words out. “I might have seen it. The bomb!” She shook her head hardly able to believe what she was thinking. “It was that guy on the street in front of me. He had a box fastened to the rear of his bike.” She closed her eyes a minute. “Wait, wait I don’t think I saw the box yesterday. No, he couldn’t have had it yesterday; I’m sure I would have noticed.”
    “Yesterday, what do you mean? You saw the same guy yesterday?” Kristen was staring at her with very wide eyes.
    Claire nodded. “It would be hard to miss him. I was waiting for you on my bike. I was going to catch up with you and see whether or not it was really you. But after I pulled out into the traffic, he cut right in front of me to get behind you. I had to apply my brakes and they’re very touchy, so over I went. I didn’t see him after that, but I’m sure I would have noticed the box. I certainly recognized him today when I saw him.”
    “Where was he today?” Her voice had a little catch in it that caught Claire’s attention.
    “On the street, a few bike lengths behind you.” Claire was thinking. “But you don’t think...?”
    Kristen sat down, taking off her backpack again. “I don’t know what to think. Let’s talk this through. Tell me everything.”
    So Claire went through the sequence again. This time she mentioned everyone she had seen more than once on the street before or after Kristen passed.
    “What do you think?” she asked Kristen.
    “I don’t want to think about it. It would just be too horrible if I caused this mayhem.”
    They sat staring at the television trying to absorb the implications of what they were thinking.
    At last Kristen said,