I took a knee in the ashes of what used to be a library wing.
Burned tomes lay scattered, their spines blistered and warped like arthritic bones. I reached for one, brushed back a layer of soot. Gold leaf flaked beneath my thumb. Leather binding. First editions, maybe. Rare. Curated. Whoever lived here prized knowledge.
I closed my eyes for a moment, let my other senses lead.
The air was drier here. Too dry. No water damage, no fire suppression.
That was intentional.
I stood slowly, every joint feeling the weight of the scene. The quiet parts told me more than the obvious ones. This wasn’t apanic burn. This was ritual. Erasure. And someone wanted us to believe it was random.
My phone buzzed in my chest pocket. I almost ignored it. But when I checked the screen, I sawTyson.
I exhaled hard. I loved my brother, but he had a knack for calling when I needed to be tuned into whatever ghosts were whispering through scorched drywall.
“Yeah.”
“Damn, that’s how you answer the phone now?”
“I’m on site.”
“Oh, shit—my bad. You alright?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, crouching again. “You know how I get when I’m listening to what the fire didn’t say.”
“Right, right,” he said. “I’ll keep it short. Just wondering if you’re sliding by the house this weekend. Ma said she’s making sweet potato pie.”
“Maybe.”
“Mmmmn. That’s a no.”
I didn’t answer. My mind had already started drifting toward Sanaa again. Her scent still clung to the edges of memory—leather and some kind of soft floral heat.
Tyson paused. Then—“So uh… Tyrell said he saw her.”
I frowned. “Who?”
“Sanaa. Yesterday. Said she was leaving your building.”
This city was too damn small and my younger brother never missed shit.
“Tyrell’s always running his mouth,” I said flat.
“Ohhh,” Tyson chuckled. “So itwasher.”
I didn’t reply. Just shifted my stance and kept my eyes on the blackened wall ahead.
“Damn,” he dragged the word like a sigh. “And y’all just ran into each other?”
“She’s tied to the case. The fire. She was working the scene.”
Silence. Then: “How’d she look?”
I let the truth slip out before I could stop it. “Like herself.”
“So—fine as hell.”
Still, I said nothing. How could I? She’d had my mind blown and my tongue tied since the first day I met her.
