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She wouldn’t lie “Apology accepted”

Their walk to the public lot happened in a cohtened away low of the streetlamps The warmth of hi

s hand on her elbow, his arhtly wrapped around her back, didn’t hurt either

She pointed at her car as they neared the lot “There it is I’ll be fine from here, I promise–”

But Zeke wasn’t paying attention to her His eyes were fixed on a white rectangle tucked under one of her windshield wipers

Chapter 4

In Syria, noting mundane details spelled the difference between life, mutilation, or death Years and several doctors later, he’d finally found ways to stop slipping back into those old habits that often terrified people who’d never been in a combat zone before Funny how such a simple, out-of-place item like a letter could shoot all that hard work to hell and send hi into that familiar place

“Give me your keys,” he told Vivian quietly

She handed the a little Her lips were tight and forehead wrinkled He unlocked the car frohts blinked on and off, but even after they’d faded into darkness, there was no movement in the lot

Zeke walked her closer toward the car, which seeely He dropped to a knee, then to his belly, peering into the shadows under the vehicle He forced himself to breathe, to remember this was Karim, Texas There weren’t any bombs here

No boer tire was flat He would deal with that in aaround, waiting for her to try to fix the tire alone After his breathing returned to nor of his heart, he got up and handed her the keys “Get in and lock the doors I’ll get the paper”

He ignored her fearful expression when he lifted the wiper and slid the piece of paper out fro as he could e The envelope was plain white, si the other day The letter inside was on printer paper, utterly non-descript

The words were not

She unlocked the car doors for hier side He slid into the seat, closing the door and letting her lock theave away the real depths of her fear, but did nothing to slow the iciness taking hold inside hied

“My car’s sitting funny,” she said, voice tre