ty public Wi-Fi to pull up the online job application for The Alibi Café. Her life was currently contained in a small

eparate from her mission gear, buzzed on

e slid out of the booth and pushed through the diner's

t?" Mrs. Gable's voice was the same as it ha

to her own voice. "I'm fine, M

I don't know how to tell you this. Your... your birth parents. T

ood drained from her face, leaving her skin feeling cold an

Gable continued, her voice gentle. "He needs a bone

and full of ice. "My brother? The one they kept? They're looking for me now? After twenty-fo

rewing for a lifetime. "Tell them I died. Tell the lawyer that Caroline Beau

ep, shuddering breath, then another, forcing the violent tremor in her hands to still. The call had ripped open a wound she

ulated impulse, told the older woman she'd just gotten married. The news, shocking as it was

her new life. She retrieved her suitcase from the locker and

she walked the last two blocks to The Garage Crew.

und the garage, drinking cheap beer and shooting the shit. Her arriv

t a corner store. "Hi," she said, her voice carrying easily over the quiet hum of the garage. "I'm Caroline

eliberate emphasis

a low whistle. "Well, I'll be damned. Mrs.

introducing themselves, their initial suspi

g there, the center of attention, laughing with his coworkers, and a strange expression cross

She handed him one of the beers and leaned in close, her lips brushing

ld feel the warmth of her breath o

ts of Port Sterling. She was pressed against his back, her arms wrapped ti

asn't much-a few sets of clothes, some toiletries, a worn paperback novel. But each item she placed

spartan apartment, which had always been just a place to crash, was

d slowly towards him, her eyes locked on his. She re

voice low and husky.

hat was meant to erase the past, the future, and everything in bet

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