On a warm Santorini afternoon two months later, Helen Hu found Reuben Costa sitting on a lounge chair on his rooftop patio and talking to a cat on his lap.

She stood there at the bright-blue gate, leaning against it, really, for strength.

The cat looked her way.

So did Reuben.

He stared.

“You have a cat,” Helen said.

“Adopted him from the no-kill shelter. Meet Petros.”

“Petros. Nice name. Keeps you company?”

“While I waited for you.” A smile followed his words. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come back.”

“I wasn’t sure either.” Helen looked out to the sea and sky, toward the same mountains, the same deep ocean, the depth of which she could not fathom.

Just like their relationship.

“I had to see you,” Helen said. “But you knew that.”

“Yes. Emails, messages, texts, phone calls, FaceTime, and so forth aren’t enough, are they?”

“No.” Helen watched Reuben let the cat go.

Then Reuben left the lounge chair and walked toward Helen. He had on a pair of flip-flops. His loose-fit pair of blue linen pants flapped in the sudden burst of wind. His white shirt, buttoned to his collarbone, also flitted about, the rolled-up sleeves revealing a deeper tan than before.

Freedom had its benefits.

Time in the sun and all that.

When he reached Helen, so did that familiar, clean smell of fresh soap in his eau de cologne.

Reuben held her hand. His hand was warm, like the afternoon sun, like a cup of chai, like…

Love?

Somewhere in the catacombs of their adventures together the last two months, perhaps Helen had fallen in love.

“Have you?” Reuben ran a thumb along Helen’s jaw.

“Have I what?”

“Have you fallen in love?”

Helen froze. “I wasn’t thinking aloud.”

“No, but I saw it in your eyes.” Reuben stepped closer until their shoulders touched. “You remember our kiss.”

Well, that hadn’t been what Helen was thinking, but now that he had mentioned it, she did remember the kiss.

In the rain. In the lightning and thunder.

In the storm.

“We’ve been through a lot together,” Reuben added.

Helen nodded.

“Would you like to sit down?” Reuben asked. “Have something to drink? Mineral water? Soda?”

“There’s only one chair.” Helen pointed to the lounge chair.

“I’ll get a chair from the kitchen. Or you can sit on my lap.”

What a tease.

“Not on cat hair.” Helen pointed to his blue pants.

“I don’t see any.”

Helen heard something in the air, and turned toward the noise. It was a drone. Taking photos of the village of Oia and the surrounding landscape.

Probably harmless.

Still, she felt a sudden urge to duck. To run downstairs. To hide.

Reuben must’ve sensed it.

He reached for her hand again. “Let’s go inside.”

Helen didn’t move. “I’m all right. It’s probably taking videos of the sunset.”

Reuben glanced at his watch. “In less than an hour.”

“I guess I came at the right time.”

“How about dinner with me tonight?” Reuben asked. There was hesitation in his voice.

“Sure,” Helen said. If that had assured him somewhat, she couldn’t tell.

Reuben’s rental house was at the top of the pile of boxy houses. To their right were a couple of blue church domes. Below this hilltop patio were more cliff-hugging buildings.

Among the buildings, tourists pouring down the steps and narrow lanes, looking for balconies to park themselves and set up video cameras and smartphones for their sunset viewing.

The noise of people and drones and distant airplanes sort of destroyed any peace and quiet on this volcanic rock of an island.

Helen leaned against Reuben’s shoulder. “Will they let you come to the States?”

Why am I asking him that?

Surely the INTERPOL needs his expertise.

“Only to see you. I’m a free man now, though I only work behind the scenes.”

Helen wondered about that.

“I know you had to do some work stateside for two months, and I waited for you,” Reuben added. “I wanted to fly to Savannah to see you, but you were incommunicado.”

Helen couldn’t tell him more—not at this time. Her undercover work required secrecy. This was the first time she had a chance to fly to Santorini to see Reuben again since July. To contact him sooner would have endangered her mission and her team.

“How is your uncle doing?” Helen asked.

“Uncle Javier?”

“Is there another?”

Reuben laughed. “So far he’s the only uncle I know, but more relatives could come out of the woodwork later. Let’s hope not all of them are in prison.”

“Your uncle probably hadn’t expected to be caught, tried, and put into prison.” Ironically, catching Javier had helped reduce Mom’s sentence.

“He writes me from time to time from Rome. Prison cells and his lifestyle don’t go too well together—if I read his handwritten letters correctly.”

Some seabirds squawked above them.

“Since I was in prison for years, I offered some advice for him regarding how to survive it,” Reuben continued.

Helen didn’t know what to say about prison life and was grateful to be distracted by a meow.

The cat returned.

“Hello, Petros.” Helen picked him up. He purred.

Reuben nodded. “He likes you.”

And then the cat leapt off Helen’s arms.

“I went to see Mom yesterday,” Helen said after watching the cat disappear down some steps. “Gave her a large-print Bible.”

“Good. How is she?”

“Doing the best she can, given the circumstances. Her biggest concern is not being able to get her nails done, but she’s teaching the other fellow prisoners Mandarin Chinese, and they’re helping her remember how to speak Greek, so it’s working out.”

The visit to the Athens women’s prison had been too brief, but it was better than nothing. Helen wondered how she could see her Mom more often. She had originally intended for Hugo to run the European branch of her private investigation firm, but now…

Now Helen would like to move here herself, if it meant she could be closer to Reuben.

Hugo could go back to Savannah and manage the main office there.

“Mom says you’ve been to see her several times in the last two months.” Helen’s voice caught. “You’re too kind.”

“You were busy, and she was lonely.”

“You did it for me.”

Reuben rested his arm over Helen’s shoulders. “For you, yes.”

“God’s mercy cleans up a lot of messes in our families, doesn’t it?”

“Only God.” Reuben squeezed her shoulder.

Helen sniffled.

“Cheer up. Your mom’s fine. Like she said, she’s relieved to finally pay for what she had done. Besides, she likes to talk about you, so…”

“Me? What does she say about me?” Trying not to be alarmed, Helen was curious.

“She is betting you’ll say no when I propose to you.”

“Why would I say no?” Helen blurted.

“You would say yes?”

Silence.

“Wait here.” Reuben left her standing on his roof.