Page 31 of Panther's Magpie
“Okay, cool.” Kaia reaches down and grabs a pencil and a sketchpad from her bag.
Nerves roll through me as I wait for her to tell me she’s ready.
“Maggie, look at me,” Panther says.
I look up and see that he’s staring at my hand that’s hovering right in front of my mouth.
Shit, I was about to start biting my thumb again, just when it’s starting to heal over.
“Thank you,” I mouth to him.
He dips his chin in acknowledgment.
“Okay, so was he skinny, thick, average? What face shape did he have?” Kaia asks, breaking the moment between Panther and me.
I close my eyes and think about Asher. I tell her how he has a heart-shaped face with dimples. How his hair is dark, almost black, and that he has a little more than scruff for facial hair but not a beard. Kaia quietly asks me questions, and I respond without hesitation.
She even hands me a little flip book to go through and pick out his features. It showed different shapes of faces, noses, eyes, even eyebrows. It takes over an hour to go through it all, then another as she finishes up her sketch.
“Okay, that’s it. Does this look like your guy?” she asks.
I open my eyes and gasp at the picture.
“That’s him. You got all of that from me?” I ask, touching my chest.
“Of course. The mind latches onto more than what people think. Especially in stressful situations,” she tells me before turning to Panther. “I’ll give this to Meek to do his thing with.”
“Thanks, Kaia,” he tells her.
“Of course. It was nice to meet you, Maggie,” she says as she leaves the room.
When the door shuts behind her, I sink further into my chair.
“You good?” Panther asks.
“Yeah, that was just more intense than I thought it would be.”
“You did good.”
His praise makes my skin heat, and I can’t help but shift in my chair, rubbing my thighs together.
God, I’m pathetic.
“What made you think of doing that?” I ask.
Panther smirks like he knows what those three little words did to me, but he doesn’t comment on it.
“Asher is the only person we haven’t placed yet. We’ve tried to get photos of him, but the guy is good. Keeps his head down. We need to know who he is.”
“To find out if he’s friend or foe.”
Panther nods. “Exactly, although I think the answer is obvious at this point.”
“That’s smart.”
“I have my moments,” he teases, making me roll my eyes.
“Well, what now?”
