Everyone else was still asleep, the whole house hushed and I had the volume low. I had my morning routine – first KUOW to catch the news, then switch to KCMU for the music. It was shortly after dawn. I’d woken up thinking about James Clark, and knew I wouldn’t manage to sleep again. The newsreader was providing little more than background noise when a name caught my attention and I reached for the volume knob. “…and police say that at this stage they have no suspects in the murder of Kyle Adams.” I held tight to the kitchen counter. Fuck. Damn. I didn’t believe in coincidences. It had to be the same guy I’d talked to yesterday. I wiped the start of tears away from my eyes, then poured coffee. I groped to the back of a drawer, pushing my way through the clean dish towels until I found the pack of cigarettes and lighter. I’d quit smoking as soon as I discovered I was pregnant and hadn’t touched one until Ian was born. Now they were kept just for emergencies. When something hit me hard, or I felt stressed, I would have one.
