Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Hearing her voice was a great release, as if water had been building and Azure was the lever that allowed him to let it all out slowly. Why would he feel envy for Legend’s new chapter in his life? But more than that, he was extremely happy for his brother on the arrival of his first child. This caused him to think of a father he’d never known and now, all of those complex emotions and strangely-shaped feelings were in her hands, hidden from him until he could breathe again. All she had to do was call…
Inhale. Exhale. LIFE.
“That’s power…” He drew on his cigar.
“I’m back. My purse fell on the car floor and I was able to get it at the light. What’s power?”
“Nothin’. Just thinkin’ out loud.”
“I take it you’re still in Kentucky?”
“Yeah, got a lot to do before I head back to Georgia. How are you doin’ today, sweetness?”
“I’m good. Just got off work. About to go to my apartment and start my second job. The one I love the most, but breaks my heart every day.” She laughed. It was a laugh tinged in pain, as if her art was a lover that didn’t always do right.
“Painting a portrait?”
“Yes. Deadline is soon approaching.” She yawned, and he heard what sounded like a car blinker on the other end of the line. “I was just hired to do some pieces for a play in California. San Francisco, to be exact. They want my art in one of the scenes. Can you believe that?”
“Yes, I can. Completely.” He dragged on his cigar and checked the GPS. “I’m on my way somewhere and have to cut this conversation short, but I want to take you out again. When can I come see you?”
“Only if you tell me your zodiac sign.”
He grinned into his phone.
“You’re relentless… That’s funny.” …Just like Mrs. Florence. I see the devil in the damn details… Slippery slope… He extinguished his cigar, scratched his beard, then switched lanes. “Tell me, Azure, what sign do you think I am?”
“You already told me it wasn’t Virgo, but I figured you may have been lyin’. Then again, I thought about it. I’ve replayed our date over and over in my mind. Due to how you… touch, stare, make love… No. Let me be blunt: how you fuck, because that’s exactly what it was, and it was amazin’.” He caught himself smirking in the rearview mirror. “I had to play that tape over in my mind and really fall back into the moment. I broke that down, bit by bit. After brainstorming, I am leaning heavily towards Scorpio, but you might be a Pisces. Definitely, water is involved.”
“Is that your final answer?” he teased.
“I’m going with Scorpio, with a Pisces or Virgo moon. That sounds probable. Final answer.”
His face flushed with heat. The specifics were impressive. Not too shabby. “I am in fact a Scorpio, and accordin’ to a lady I dated some years ago who was into that astrology shit, much like you, she said that I do have a Pisces moon.”
“I knew it! My skills are not to be slept on.”
“Are you sure you didn’t manage to find my birthdate online somehow? It’s not like I had it redacted from any records.”
“Boy, tryin’ to find out certain information about you, includin’ yo’ birthday online, is like tryna find a grain of white rice in a snow heap.”
“Yeah, that’s intentional. It’s because of the cold cases I discuss. I am talking about the victims on my podcast show, people involved with or the targets of unsolved disappearances or murders. These folks that did these crimes haven’t been caught yet. If they’re still alive, then they’d naturally still be on high alert.” He drew on his cigar once more.
“That makes sense now… I can see that. I think that’s good regardless, you know, to be careful with your private life and who knows what. I could see the potential for danger in what you do. That makes you brave, in my opinion.”
“Makes me brave, huh? How so?”
“When somebody has killed someone and tried to hide their crime, probably did a lot of work to elude capture, the last thing they want is someone talkin’ about it. Loose lips sink ships. Speak no evil. Now, if someone like you comes waltzin’ in, squawkin’ and talkin’, then that leaves a feelin’ of vulnerability for them, I’d imagine. Even anger. You done went in their backyard and dug up the bones, askin’ who put ’em there, all over again. You’re takin’ a rock off somethin’ that was forgotten.” His heart began a slow thump, the beat taking his breath away. He tried to feel it. Hear it. Speak of it. “Once that rock is removed, then and only then can the world see the clumps of mud, ugly millipedes, and squiggly worms.