Page 86 of The System

“Go to sleep,” Carina said through her laughter.

“But now we’re talking about hard nipples.”

“Better or worse than farts?”

Kieran laughed this time and said, “Way better.”

Not long after that, Kieran stopped talking, and not long after that, her breathing evened out to a slow rhythm that helped carry Carina off to sleep.

She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that because when she woke up to her alarm, which Carina hated the sound of, she was on her stomach, with the back of her shirt up to help with the sweating, and Kieran was on the other side of the bed, facing away from her.

“Off,” Kieran mumbled.

“Working on it,” Carina said, reaching for her phone.

She turned off the alarm and rolled over to see Kieran climbing out of bed.

“Hey, no time to cuddle this morning? Morning kiss, even?” Carina asked.

“Need to pee and brush my teeth.”

“You’re not a morning person, either, are you?” Carina said, smiling as she watched Kieran walk to the bathroom.

“Not a five-in-the-morning person, no. No wonder you need, like, nine alarms.”

“It’s six,” Carina said loudly as Kieran disappeared.

Carina stretched and pulled her shirt down, realizing it had bunched up a bit in the front, too.

“Hey, can I shower here before I go home to change?”

“Sure,” Kieran replied through the closed door. “I don’t need to be at work for another, like, five hours.”

Carina laughed and looked around the room. Seeing it in the semi-daylight for the first time, she smiled because she was in Kieran’s bedroom. They’d fallen asleep next to each other after their very first date, which meant they’d probably have a second date, too. She lay there, staring up at the ceiling, pondering that, when her phone rang. Carina was surprised because no one called her this early, but seeing that it was from the office, she picked it up on the second ring.

“Kevin?” she asked.

“Yeah, hey. Sorry to call you this early, but they’re a couple of hours ahead of us and called me. I know you’re not on the case anymore, but I wanted to know if you knew something.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Marin May case.”

“What about it?” She glanced at the bathroom door as it opened, and Kieran came out, looking sleepy and confused that Carina was on the phone.

“I had to take the deal you offered off the table. I called her attorney this morning; left him a message.”

“Sorry, what?” She sat up in bed.

“Carina, she’s killed before,” Kevin told her. “Did you know she was married in Florida under a different name?”

“She was married again?”

“Yes. And that guy died, too. Gunshot wound to the head.”

“What’s wrong?” Kieran asked softly as she climbed back into bed.

“Kevin, where did you get this from?”

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