Page 58

REN

Siren Song, Maine

R en rested against the headboard, stroking Stella’s bare back.

She lay propped up on her elbows and flipped through the pages of Franklin’s treasured coffee table book, Shore Birds of Maine.

Her body beside him made him happy. It was a simple word but a feeling that had eluded Ren most of his life.

“Look at this little guy—a piping plover. Cute.” She flipped the glossy page. “That’s a weird-looking fellow.”

Stella rolled to her back, sat up, and plopped the book onto Ren’s stomach.

“Oof.”

She poked him. “I’m sure that eight-pack can handle two pounds.”

Ren looked past the book and watched as Stella rubbed her toes along his shin.

She probably didn’t even realize she was doing it.

He pulled one hand from under his head and tucked a dark lock behind Stella’s ear.

She prattled on about sandpipers and yellowlegs, and Ren felt the ice around his heart melt away.

It was odd that this simple situation would hit him so hard, considering they had been fucking nearly nonstop, but something about this moment of unadorned intimacy filled Ren with a contentment he had never known.

It occurred to him that when Ren was pursuing Sofria Kirk, the reality always seemed to pale in comparison to his fantasy. Stella Keen somehow always managed to exceed his expectations. There was a light inside Stella that, despite his resistance, had leaked into his own dark soul.

“Look, it even has the birds’ likes and dislikes, like a dating app,” she said.”Why wouldn’t a bird like monarch butterflies?”

“Probably taste bad,” Ren said around a yawn.

“Look, there’s the cliff swallow they were talking about. The ones that nest out there.”

Ren was too distracted by Stella’s body to direct his attention to the book. “Mm-hmm,” he replied as he circled her breast and watched her berry-red nipple harden.

“Ren?”

“Hmm?”

“Look at the cliff swallow’s list of dislikes.”

Reluctantly, he turned his eyes to the book and read the items. The Rubik’s Cube flipped and spun in his mind until all the colors aligned. Ren looked at Stella.

They both spoke at the same time. “I know who killed Franklin.”