Beneath another name

Cross ever told was t

e knew. The officials called it an accident. She knew better. But wh

't rem

sier than

verhead jingled weakly, as if it, too, was tired of existing. The booths were mostly empty. A trucker hun

dows. She'd memorized his face from the file. Paul Renner. Freelance info b

ched. Just looked up, like he'

late,"

to the seat across from him. Her voice was ev

don't look like a wom

s the

tly. "Well then.

la folder between them. He didn't slide it t

stead, which the waitress had set down without asking.

has sharp teeth. You sure

e," she said. "Not

kled. "

n signs from the bodega next door flashed red and green across the window. T

tone shifting. "This isn't

gers tightened aro

did yo

der forward. This

ly. There was a photograph on top: grainy, taken from a distance. A

underneath

ge 15 – Survivor,

tilted, slightly, like the fl

seen that f

istaken,"

mistaken. About how buri

ed the fo

id you g

e the cracks are, Samantha.

e bluf

you wouldn'

the table. "Someone else is looking into this, too. I fi

ho

already w

. Rain pelted the windows in a rhythmic hush. Her finger

ports, most redacted. Scrawled notes

f Marc

e echo of the past, heavy

pposed to

front of her. Her walls were lined with bookshelves. Not for show-she read them all. Cr

eathed and lived. Inside, she f

her, holding a stuffed rabbit in front of a burnt house.

that rabbit in

hoto aside and s

sheriff. The m

s life had end

ross had risen

n the couch with her arm over her eyes,

er her mouth. Her mother's voice-just

hen n

e she worked as a senior investigative reporter. She wore her armor: black

tinez, waved her into

ate," Glo

person to tell me t

aybe it

a chair. "What do

s a tip about embezzlement in Hartwood County, Geor

ove, but her

ood C

that name out lou

sked, feigning

You don't spook easily. And let's be

her hands. The

take

, Sam book

ust a duffel bag and a

rror before leaving. Stared

name she hadn't said

che

e glass in

who she'd be whe