Forgive No More by Seb Kirby & Seb Kirby

Author:Seb Kirby & Seb Kirby
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788636551
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2019-06-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 45

With frequent stops to allow oncoming vehicles to pass, Ferrara took the Giulietta through the anonymous narrow white streets of Ostuni, guided by Schreiber from the front passenger seat while I sat in the back. When we arrived at the small central square, Piazza della Liberta, Schreiber signaled we should stop. “This is as far as we go.”

He led us along Via Roma, past the small church of Spirito Santo, until we came to a narrow alleyway leading off the street and up labyrinthine stone staircases taking us higher into the heart of this part of the medieval city.

Schreiber paused at the doorway of one of the multistory houses perched on the still-rising hillside. “You can see why I have chosen this place. Somewhere difficult to find.” He paused to glance up and down the narrow alleyway before continuing. “I found her just in time. In Florence. Working the streets. I had to smuggle her away. They threatened to kill her if she left.”

He took a key from his pocket and opened the door. Before we went on up the steep flight of stairs leading to the apartments above, Schreiber made us pause again. “May I ask you both to understand that if the person you are going to meet appears distressed, there is a good reason. Her emotions are raw because of what she has been through. I ask you to respect that and allow her to tell you as much or as little as she wishes.”

When we arrived at the top of the last flight of the stairs we came to a small apartment crammed into the uppermost floor of the building. Schreiber called out in a reassuring voice. “Gina. It’s Arndt. I have some people I would like you to meet.”

The room was clean but lacking enough ventilation to cope with the heat that remained in this part of Italy in early September.

She sat on a low couch facing us, saying nothing, watching as we came in. She was small, vulnerable, not long past her teens. She wore her silence as protection against a world that had turned against her.

Schreiber showed us to seats at an old wooden table beneath the solitary window and continued to try to put her at her ease. “I want you to meet Professor Nico Ferrara. He’s here to help.”

Ferrara smiled but added nothing.

“And I want you to meet James Blake. He has a story to tell. One very much like yours.”

She took interest in this. “You will help me find my sister?”

I was trying to place her accent. It was Canadian, perhaps. No, American. East Coast. “You can trust me. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

We talked for over an hour. Schreiber and Ferrara remained silent as the conversation passed back and forth between myself and Gina. She was being wary. I needed to win her trust so she would begin to open up about what had happened to bring her here.

I told her I knew how she must be feeling, separated from her sister.

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