Page 38 of Silent Shadows

“You don’t sound crazy.”

I bark out a laugh before I can stop it. “That’s honestly one of the nicest things anyone’s ever said to me.”

“I’m serious.” She shrugs. “I expected more… intensity, I guess.”

“I’m plenty intense.”

“Oh, no, you definitely are,” she retorts. “Do I need to remind you that you made me a laminated field manual?”

“It was informational.”

“It had bullet points.”

“Bullet points increase retention.”

Her mouth twitches again.

God.

I take another sip of coffee, trying not to notice how, for the first time, being the subject of someone's scrutiny feels nice.

Outside the diner’s windows, the desert morning begins to awaken around us. Sunlight spills gold across the empty road. Somewhere behind the counter, old country music crackles through worn speakers.

She glances toward the window, messy hair falling over her freckled shoulder. “So, what exactly are we looking for today?”

I lean forward, slipping into explanation mode before I can stop myself.

“Okay, so. The canyon system creates natural movement funnels. Water sources nearby. Minimal human traffic. Plus, there have been repeated reports of vocalizations in the same elevation range over the last six months.”

She blinks, then smirks.

“You’re cute when you talk about migration patterns.”

I stare at her.

“What?”

“You got excited! It’s endearing.”

I nearly inhale coffee into my lungs.

Across from me, Daisy smiles innocently. But not innocently enough to hide the fact that she knows what she just did.

Which means one of two things.

Either she flirts with everyone like this, or she specifically likes watching me short-circuit.

I hope it’s the latter.

chapter

five

DAISY

The diner breakfast was weird.

Not bad-weird. Just weird in the specific way it feels jarring when something is too natural too fast.