The Dragon at the Edge of The Map

Chapter 2

Later, Monique turned away from her window. Staring at the rain wasn't going to get her anywhere. If Rafe wanted to break up, so be it. She would survive. She always survived. She slipped her iPod into the speaker dock and let it run through her favorite playlist. Music always helped no matter what mood she was in or how bad the day had been. Nerves were making her jumpy. She needed to do something. The weak light through the window didn't show it, but her home needed a cleaning. Anything that would help take her mind off the memory of the blood across the hall.

It didn't take long, but the familiar steps of dusting, polishing, and scouring brought a measure of peace. The staleness that dulled her senses lifted, replaced with the clean sharp smell of lemon and bleach. Monique threw the cleaning cloths into the laundry basket then leaned out through the open window and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply. The rain had stopped while she was cleaning, the clouds evaporating to reveal the sky, pale blue just waiting for the sun to set and display stars.

She knew logically that the argument with Rafe wasn't going to end the relationship. In her head, the reality of his accusation rang true, and she couldn't argue against anything he'd said. In her heart, something twisted the words into weapons and truth didn't matter. It wasn't her fault she couldn't feel anything. He knew her history, and he knew what she'd overcome. She hated that he was trying to change her. She knew she was broken. She didn't need anyone to fix her.

Broken had worked for the last eighteen years.

She shook her head and stubbed the cigarette into the ashtray she held. Thinking wouldn't solve the problem. She needed to talk to Rafe, but she also needed to take some time to get over the fight first. If she called him right now, there was a real chance she'd make things worse while trying to fix them.

In the kitchen, Monique started a pot of coffee and then picked up the material Walk in The Past had sent about the new ghost walk she was leading in a couple of days. Vancouver had enough history to make hundreds of different tours, and she filled some time with leading tourists through the more seedy parts of town. The stories she told about the history of the area seemed to entertain. Some of them were true, and some complete fiction.

Halfway through the material, Monique heard a door slam across the hall. Fear shot through her entire body. Were the police back? She walked to the peephole and glanced out, but there was nothing to see. Monique leaned against the door. The noise had definitely come from across the hall. Wanting to avoid going back to picking over her relationship defects, and bored with the reading material, she turned the lock quietly and darted across the hall.

Monique tried to look through the peephole into the apartment, but the distortion blurred all the details. She leaned against the door, careful not to break the crime tape, and listened. Yes, there was something going on in there. Someone was tossing heavy things around.

She pushed away from the door and ducked back into her own apartment. Should she call the police? What if it was something innocent? She reached for the phone to call Rafe for advice before she remembered the fight.

She put her eye to her own peephole, but there was no one in the hall. She knew that calling the cops was the right thing to do. She knew it wasn't something innocent. Why would someone innocently be going through the murdered guy's apartment? She glanced at the phone and made her decision.

"Hey, cut it out," a woman shrieked.

Monique ran back to the door to see who had come from the apartment. It wasn't a stranger. Mac, the guy who lived next door stood in her line of sight. He had his arm around a skinny blond chick, a bottle of Jack in the hand dangling near her breasts. He slobbered a kiss on her cheek and then elbowed his door open. They fell through it, both giggling.