Page 28 of Shhh…It’s A Killer Story

She stood there breathing hard. Why the fuck was she wearing heels?

“Well,” she said.

“That could’ve gone better.”

The night answered with silence.

I cleared my throat, maybe now she would focus on her surroundings now that the suitcase was in the trunk.

She froze.

Slowly, she turned. Our eyes met beneath the flickering streetlight. And for a single heartbeat… everything else disappeared. Honey. That was the first thing I noticed, not the exact shade. Just that her eyes had the shade of honey. Eyes far brighter than the streetlamp deserved. Curious and unapologetically expressive. The kind of eyes that revealed every thought a second before their owner realized it. Then she smiled, not politely or nervously but fully. Like she’d already decided I wasn’t dangerous. It struck me as reckless and strangely disarming. There was something about that smile and how it reached her eyes. Most didn’t, most smiles were practiced, measured and calculated. Hers looked accidental. Like happiness had simply found its way onto her face before permission could be granted.

FUCK ME SHE’S GORGEOUS.

“Need a hand?”

I nodded toward the trunk.

“That sounded heavy.”

“It was.”

Her voice wrapped around the silence with surprising ease. Warm, rich and lightly amused. Like she’d found life entertaining long before everyone else caught on. It wasn’t high or overly soft. It carried the easy confidence of someone entirely comfortable occupying space.

“What is it?” I asked.

Fuck me she smiled again.

“Books.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Books?”

“I’m very committed to literacy.” She kept smiling and walking closer. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“No.”

“You live around here?”

“I do now.”

“Huh.”

I extended my hand and she took it.

“Detective Elias Reed.”

Her fingers slipped from mine. For the briefest moment, something flickered across her face. Not fear but something else. It was gone before I could put a name to it.

She smiled. A little too brightly.

“Well…I’ll let you get back to your books.”

“I should probably do that.”

“You should.”