Page 62 of Silent Bones

“Jake’s gone,” she said. “The commander was right. He took the transfer. Downstate. He leaves at the end of the month but he left my place tonight.”

A beat passed.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and meant it.

She laughed once, no joy in it. “Are you?”

Noah didn’t answer, he could see she was angry.

Callie paced again, more agitated now. “He said he needed something simpler. Cleaner. Fewer ghosts. Fewer complications.”

“Complications?” Noah waited.

“With this area,” she added. “With me.”

Still, he said nothing.

Callie moved toward the door. “I shouldn’t have come here.”

“It’s okay, you can stay,” he said, quietly. “You’re allowed to not have it all together. Hell, I’ve dumped my fair share of personal crap on you.”

“Don’t do that,” she snapped.

“Do what?”

“Be the calm one. Be the guy who always says the right thing in the right tone. It makes me feel insane.”

“I wasn’t trying to be anything,” Noah said.

“Well, you are,” she said, voice sharp. “You always are. And I never know what you’re thinking, and it makes me want to scream sometimes.”

He folded his arms, steady. “Then scream.”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

Instead, she stood there, trembling slightly, fingers clenched at her sides. Callie turned to leave, placing a hand on the door. She paused for a moment.

And then, suddenly, turned back and walked forward and kissed him.

It wasn’t slow or delicate. It wasn’t practiced. It was hard and full of passion. It was impulsive and searching, like trying to answer a question without asking it.

For a second, Noah didn’t move. Then she pulled back, just a few inches, close enough to still feel his breath.

His voice was low. “What was that about?”

Callie let out a small, almost embarrassed laugh. “I just wanted to see.”

He tilted his head. “Yeah? And what did you learn?”

She looked at him for a moment, really looked. Her eyes studying him like some lab experiment. Something passed across her face, vulnerability, maybe regret, maybe something more tangled than both.

“That I’m still a mess,” she said.

She stepped back, gave him a nod like that was all she’d come for, and turned toward the door.

Noah didn’t stop her.

She opened it, stepped into the drizzle, and let the screen door close behind her with a soft thud. A few seconds later, he heard her car start and back out of the driveway.