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And the police are no closer to finding the tainted drugs.

Ding!

My eyes flash to my laptop sitting at my small kitchen table.

Beanie snuggles further into my side, but it is easy to scoop her up and tuck her into the blanket. She whines, but doesn’t stir.

Getting up carefully, I grab my glasses off the nightstand. Throwing them on, I search for where the sound came from.

It’s her. So much for her going to sleep.

Cinnamon: Hey! I need your help! You seemed to know about crypto and my last job is trying to pay me with bitcoin (???). I would like to get it set up before the next one they hired me for.

The cursor hesitates over the trash button. I should just ignore this, pretend it never came through.

I’m already this far in, I may as well see where it takes me.

Web designer: Sure.

Cinnamon: Can I just pay you a percentage of what I’m sent? I don’t want to use that card again.

I still need to track down the owner of the card…maybe it would lead me to who Cinnamon actually is. Maybe a police report was filed, and it’s flagged stolen.

Cinnamon seems so innocent, sweet even. And yet…

I go into her email, finding she still hasn’t changed her password. I quickly read through the messages.

Web designer: Free of charge. I will get you set up.

At some point, I will have to turn her in. To end this charade.

But not yet.

28

You’re the Apple of My Eye

Orzo

Ibrush Cinnamon’s hair back as she sleeps soundly in the bed. I feel better with her here, outside of town. Except…I couldn’t find anything on whose house this is.

On why she is here.

There are no pictures covering the walls, no personal belongings or mail.

Whoever lives here is a ghost.

As soon as Reuben was done with me, I tracked Cinnamon’s phone across town, and imagine my surprise when it took her away from her apartment.

She stirs, but my thumb moves, covering her lips.

“Shhh, you need to sleep.” My eyes flick to the laptop beside her.

I should open it, go through the files. Learn everything there is to know about the woman, but maybe just maybe…

I’ll let her tell me instead.

I want her to trust me. I want to hear the truth from her. I want Cinnamon to be the one to tell me every single facet of her life.