“What are you laughing at?” she asks, picking up her phone again.
She wears her new winter jacket and a green muffler.
“You look cute.”
“Thank you.”
She smiles.
“Why were you laughing?”
“Nothing. It’s funny how life is. I’m here. You’re there. Here it's warm. You are snowed in.”
She dismisses me with a gesture.
“I’m not snowed in. It’s just winter. Don’t be a brat now.”
“I’m not. I’m not. So, you go to my place, walk in the back, and search for the key behind the bench. Make sure you wear gloves. I’m sure it’s buried in snow. There’s a small nook in the concrete wall. The key is in a small wooden box tucked in there.”
“Thank you.”
“Okay. I’ll let you to it. Call me when you get there.”
“No, no…” she protests. “You stay on the line. I don’t want to drive alone in the dark.”
“Oh, please…”
She laughs wholeheartedly.
“Don’t be a jerk,” she says.
“I’m not… All right. You have to wait a few moments. I want to draw myself a bath and treat myself while you cut your way through the piles of snow.”
“Rub it in. Rub it in…”
Chuckling, I head to the bathroom.
“You should see the bathtub,” I murmur while her door lock clicks.
She’s left her place.
* * *
KAI
Later.
A small darksilhouette exits the car in front of Raven’s house. The woman––it’s definitely a woman––talks on the phone, a green muffler wrapped around her neck.
This is not our guy.
She rounds her beat-up car and shuffles to the path Grayson and I had followed to get into Raven’s house. The street light glows over her face.
Giana?
It must be her… And she’s coming here.
I shift to Grayson.