Page 38 of Callan

I spot nothing out of the ordinary. The woman has adorned her balcony with Christmas lights, and that’s about it.

“Two?”

“Yeah. Two men,” I say quietly while slipping back inside. “Maybe they’re discussing some business matters. Or they’re family.”

“Did they look like they were family?”

“No, not really,” I say, sliding the door closed behind me.

It smells like cinnamon and cloves inside.

“They looked like they were dealing,” I joke, and she laughs, but that’s not far from the truth.

They looked sketchy.

And this whole story is weird.

I thought things got settled between them.

The husband came back. The lover moved out.

If that’s the case, my chances of making money again withCallanhave vanished.

Not so fast,baby doll.

I’m not a fan of terms of endearment, but I do like him calling me that.

I was a fan, to be more precise. I don’t know if I’ll ever hear him call me that again.

Silly me.

A quiet thud makes the wall shudder.

“Um, what?”

“What?” Kayla mirrors me.

“There was a noise,“ I say quietly, as if my upstairs neighbor could actually hear me.

“Noise as in… A happy noise? Or a‘do you need to call the cops’noise?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell with this woman. I do hope the cops won’t be needed in this situation, though.”

“She’s not in danger, is she?”

“I hope not,” I say, a bad feeling zipping through me.

It didn’t sound like people having sex.

I inch closer to the wall and press my ear to it. Silence comes from upstairs.

I wish I knew what they were doing.

“I hope they’re having sex,” I say.

“The three of them?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

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