Page 4 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

“It’s good,” the kid told me.

I picked it up. “Always like a good rec.”

“And by that, he means he finds recommendations in the newspaper or from the little staff cards. Gavino would rather walk on hot coals than speak to another human being. Even about the things he likes.”

“I talk to people at bookstores.”

“Sure. The checkout person when they ask for your loyalty card number.”

That got a small chuckle out of me.

She wasn’t wrong.

“I used to think it was weird that you even bothered to come to bookstores. Until a little birdie told me you don’t have a laptop. And you use a dumbphone. You don’t even have a music app.”

I was sure that little birdie was one of my chatty brothers.

“I buy my music.”

“And are a technophobe.”

“I’m not afraid of it. I just think it’s a capitalist hellscape where everything is rented, no one owns anything, and the people who create the apps every one uses just keep getting richer.”

“I like physical books best,” Charlotte piped in.

“See? The kid gets it.”

“We’re going to need to buy more bookshelves soon,” Alara said.

“Build ‘em. Haven’t found a decent store-bought bookcase where the shelves don’t bow a year on.”

“Wait. You build things?” Alara asked. “This is new information to me. Do you have a sexy tool belt?”

“Just the shelves. Anyway, I won’t get in the way of your shopping.”

“You mean that your social battery is overfilled already and you want us to leave you alone,” Alara said, shooting me a smirk.

“Tomayto, tomahto.”

Alara laughed as she led Charlotte away.

I turned to watch them for a second, seeing Charlotte pick up a book I’d read recently. “It’s a little trite, but you won’t be able to put it down.”

She shot me a big smile and added the book to her pile.

I grabbed a few more books before checking out, exchanging a few words with the cashier, finding it wasn’t as miserable as it typically felt.

With that in mind, I grabbed some takeout to last me through lunch and dinner, then headed back to my apartment.

Where I fell back into my usual routines, all but forgetting about the rest of the world.

Until one night, the world broke into my apartment with handcuffs and a plan.

CHAPTER TWO

Caitlin

There wasn’t any blood.