Nomad Read Free Page B

observatory, the motion of the Earth around the sun, the motion of the Sun around the galactic core—everything pushed and pulled apart by gravity—and after that, even allowed for the heating or cooling of the device itself, down to the tiniest of imperfections in the system. Each observation team had a long list of “fudge factors” they used for their own systems.
    The question Dr. Müller now posed: was there an overlooked factor they all shared?
    If so, what exactly was it?
     

4
     
    C HIANTI, I TALY
     
     
     
    JESS STARED AT HER mother.
    “Jail?” Celeste winced. “Again?” Her shoulders dropped but hitched back up quickly, her lips pressing together as she took a long look at her daughter. “Is that why you rushed me all the way out here?”
    “No, the reason we’re here is to have a girls’ trip,” Jess half-lied, taking a step back. “And to find this long-lost cousin of yours.”
    Her mother had received a Facebook message from an Italian relative a few weeks ago, asking her to come and visit. Totally unexpected. As far as her mother knew, none of their family still lived in Italy after moving to America generations ago. But this wasn’t the real reason. The surprise was going to be reconnecting Celeste with her estranged husband, Jess’s father. But that wasn’t something Jess was going to reveal, not yet, because if she did her mother was just as likely to get straight back on a flight to JFK.
    Celeste broke eye contact and tilted her chin downward, shaking her head. “Okay, so what are you in trouble with?”
    “I need money.”
    “For what?”
    “A lawyer.”
    “For what ?”
    Jess gritted her teeth. “It’s complicated. This guy I was dating, Ricardo—”
    “The one you just dumped?”
    Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Jess said, “I need to hire a lawyer. The police are looking for me.”
    “So what did you do?” Celeste asked once more.
    Jess closed her eyes. “Ricardo and I got into a fight, and he hit me, so I decided it was enough. I grabbed my things and took off. I sold my car to get cash, but it was registered under his name. He got mad and called the police. He said I stole it, but I didn’t.”
    It was a stupid fight that had spiraled out of control. She’d lived in Rome with Ricardo for the past three months. It wasn’t serious. Or at least, it hadn’t been. Now it was. To be honest, she hit him first, and much harder. Shame burned Jess’s cheeks. More proof of her own inability to act responsibly. Her anger always brimmed just under the surface; too often it darted out to taste the air, and disappeared just as quickly.
    “Someone hit you ?” Her mother didn’t seem so much concerned with her daughter getting hit, as amazed the offending party wasn’t in the hospital. “And they want to arrest you for that?”
    “No.” Jess shook her head. “But I’ve been working here illegally, and Ricardo can be a real asshole. I don’t want to get stuck—”
    “Everyone,” Nico said loudly from the front of the room, “I’d like your attention please.”
    Jess looked away from her mother’s eyes, glancing at the tour guide before feeling a presence behind her. The door to the room must have opened while they were talking, and someone had stepped in behind them. Moving forward, Jess turned and mumbled an apology, but stopped and blinked twice.
    A man stared at her, a deep scar creasing his forehead under a mop of black hair. The man smiled, fixing Jess with penetrating brown eyes. Where had she seen him before? In the parking lot on the way in, she remembered. She had almost run into him. Tattoos didn’t impress Jess, but scars were another matter. The temperature in the room seemed to rise. “ Scusi ,” she mumbled in Italian, getting out of the way.
    “No, I apologize,” said tall-dark-and-scarred. He smiled awkwardly, nodding at the floor.
    Looking down, Jess found a pair of small eyes staring up at her. A boy held the man’s hand. Jess