AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She pulled out her phone and typed the letter into a translation app.Fortunately, the note was not very long, only two paragraphs.
The translation read:
25 March
Tomas,
I hope this letter finds you well.I received your note and your very special gift.I promise to keep it safe.I know how much it means to you.As you said, both of our hearts are tied up in it.Thinking about everything that happened this past year makes me want to cry.But I must hold the tears back so that no one will know how much it meant to work with you.
I am a different person and a better artist now, having met you and become a part of the group.I am inspired and filled with a sense of righteousness that I did not know I could feel.I lived such a small life until I met you, until I saw a bigger world, one that I could make a difference in.
I know I left without a proper goodbye, but I had to go, and you know why.I still think of you often and hope you are all well and that you are happy.One day perhaps we will meet again.That is my secret wish.
With love, J
Isabella's heart was beating fast as she set down the letter, a dozen different thoughts running through her head.The gift that Tomas had sent to J could have been anything.It didn't precisely say it was a painting, butJhad talked about working with Tomas and their hearts being tied up in that gift, so it could have been art.
Their relationship seemed very personal, very intense, which made her eagerly reach for the next letter, which was also from J, delivered to the same address in Rome with no return address.Clearly, J had not been interested in giving away her location.
She put the words from the second note into the translation app.
14 April
Tomas,
I am worried about you.I have heard whispers that loyalty is wavering, things are unraveling.I have wanted to reach out but know it is better to have no communication with you.However, I could not resist.My stomach is in knots.Please be careful who you trust.It's possible someone close to you could have their own secrets, their own desires.Stay well.
With love, J
Now, Isabella was worrying about Tomas, too.She didn't know exactly when he had died.She needed to find out when, not that she had a year on this note, but she had a month, and if Tomas had died in May or June, that could be telling.Maybe the fire hadn't been just an accident.
She grabbed the last letter from the stack and saw it had been sent back as undeliverable.The address read: J.J., CP #2310, 50123 Firenze, Italia.The return address was the house she was in right now.The envelope had been opened, but she didn't know who had done that.It could have been Tomas or perhaps his son, Marcus or his daughter-in-law, Anna.
Opening the envelope, she pulled out the letter.The handwriting was very different, more masculine with harder strokes.She typed in the Italian words again, impatient to read the translation as she could already see that this letter was from Tomas to the mysteriousJ.
She wondered ifJ.J.were really their initials, or if he'd simply repeated theJso as not to say a last name.Their correspondence so far had been carefully worded.
The translation popped up.
16 June
My dearest J,
You were right to warn me.Everything is going wrong.There is a traitor in our midst.Now I am worried about you.Please be careful with your gift.No one should ever know you have it.I am sorry now that I sent it to you.I only wanted it to bring you joy.Now I worry it will bring you danger.
I fear our dreams were too big.I thought we had more power.I believed we were all thinking as one person, but evil is finding us through the shuttered light of our art.I hope we have done enough, but I fear we have not.It all may come crashing down.
I have sent my creation to my son.He asked me questions I couldn't answer, but I know he will keep it safe.I pray you are well and that you are happy.Please let me know.Even though we are apart, you are still my inspiration, my muse, my reason to be a better man.With all my love, Tomas.
Isabella let out a breath.Tomas's powerful and emotional words touching her deeply.This was a man in love but also a man who was afraid his world was ending.And he'd been right, because he'd died in a mysterious fire that now seemed to have been deliberately set.
She wondered why the letter had come back.Had he put the wrong address or had the mysteriousJmoved away?If the letter had been written in the same year, then three months had passed between her letter and his.What had happened in those three months?
It was sad to think that the woman had never read his heartfelt words.
She read through the translation once more.Tomas had written in cryptic, sometimes poetic language, and while the translation could be slightly off, the gist of what he'd written came through.He'd been involved with some kind of group.It sounded likeJhad been a part of it at one time.She'd warned him not to trust the people around him.He'd responded that there was a traitor in their midst.Everything was unraveling.But what was everything?What on earth had Tomas been involved in?Evil was finding them through the shuttered light of their art.That was quite a phrase.And Tomas feared they hadn't done enough, but she had no idea what he was talking about.
Her phone buzzed with an incoming message from Nick.He'd dropped off their grandmothers and was on his way home.She texted back a thumbs-up.She wasn't thrilled they would have to work together, but she wanted to talk to him about what she'd learned.
