Page 148 of Callan

She liked everything I did to her.

And seeing her happy made me forget who I was.

When she finally cuddled up to me, and her soft breaths moved through her parted lips as she fell asleep, I never felt more confident that we were right.

For the most part, life is a continued battle, as anyone can take you down at any moment, quite often for the dumbest reasons.

But once in a while, someone special comes along to make it all worth it, helping you forget about the dangers of living on this earth.

Not only do they not fight you, but they turn out to be your best life. That’s how she felt to me last night.

I take another sip of coffee and finally check my phone.

Beverly called me an hour ago.

She only called once, which makes me believe it was a relatively important matter––important enough to call me on Christmas Day, but not important enough to blow up my phone.

I tap her name, and her phone rings at the other end of the line.

She answers on the second ring.

“Merry Christmas,” I say in a gruff voice.

“Merry Christmas to you, too. Everything good at your end?”

“Couldn’t be better. What happened?”

She sighs, and I imagine her tense and crunched over her laptop.

“There’s some stuff you should know about.”

“I’m listening.”

“The cops have Carmen, her husband, and Alvarez under surveillance.”

My eyebrows flick up slightly.

“Come again?”

“Yeah… They have eyes on them. Apparently, the detectives got some intel that our friends had been involved in a heist.”

“You got to be kidding me,” I say, laughing. “He’s discarding these stupid fools.”

“He sure is. Although it can be a she.”

“I doubt it. Only a man can chase wicked pleasure like this. So, he uses them, messes with them, sets them up, and lets the police take out the trash. And all this time, I thought he was after me.”

“He is after you. The only reason you’ve figured him out is that he’s trying to do the same to you. No offense.”

“None taken. It’s not gonna work with me. That’s why he’s not showing his face. Plus, he must know how much I hate this stupid game.”

I suck in a long breath.

“Um… All right. Good to know. Anything else?”

“Well…”

The silence prolongs.

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