Chapter 9

AUTHOR'S POV (ADLER.)

He knew she was recollecting, her face dawning in recognition as more minutes passed but still staring at him in unbelief.

For a moment, he thought she couldn't remember that afternoon years ago because she was someone who would jump at any opportunity to offer help to just anyone.

So maybe their case wasn't that special.

But she did; she kept him in her memories just like he had kept her in his, but maybe not as much as he had held her, like seeing her in his dreams, having nightstands with girls that had her features.

It never gave him that fill, that thrill he had gotten lying under the shed, his head resting against a pile of bags she had gathered, for him while she continued to try to pry the gun out of his hands.

"Stai per premere il grilletto su te stesso!" She'd chided. You're about to pull the trigger on yourself.

And even as he lay there fighting for his life, he remembered the only reason he had refused to let the gun go was so she kept repeating that