Flushed

Kim put the plastic bag ready, pulled on her gloves, and carefully grasped the corner of the letter with the tweezers. With her other hand she took the letter opener from the table and carefully slit the envelope open on one side. She pulled out the paper and unfolded it, put it on the table.

Luke, who had been watching her with a strained face, stood next to her and together they read the few printed words.

TAKE WHAT YOU WANT

It's easy for you to take what you want, you don't care who it belongs to. - You'll pay for it, no matter what way.

Luke stared at the text with his lips pressed together, his fingers clutching the edge of the table so tight that his knuckles protruded white.

Kim spontaneously stroked his arm gently, but he didn't seem to notice.

"What do we do now?" He asked in a husky voice after a while.

"There's not much we can do right now," Kim said quietly. “I'll send the letter to the lab like the first one, and we should hope they find something. In the meantime, the people you wrote down will be checked. I'll get the results as soon as this is done, if we're lucky there might be some clue. Until then, there is only one thing I can do, and that is not to take my eyes off you for a second

. '

"It can't be that I'm so frightened by such nonsense," he said, shaking his head. “I wonder what the sender is trying to do with it.”

“Well, if I'm to be honest, it sounds a lot private to me. You should

think twice about whether there isn't someone who has a reason to be so angry with you. " " Of course there were always people with whom I had differences, but they were little things and nothing to justify such a thing, ”he said, shrugging.

Kim carefully wrapped the letter. "I'll get this to the post office in a moment."

Luke nodded. "I'm coming with you, I don't have the nerve to work anymore."

He gave Kim a crooked grin. "Besides, I guess I don't have a chance to escape you." A

moment later, Kim knocked on the Aldridges and asked Harvey to give him the key to his car while Luke was waiting for them at the car.

When she came up to him, he held out his hand, and when she looked at him questioningly, he wordlessly took the key from her hand.

"I might have to have a woman guard me, but I'd rather take the wheel myself," he said, amused.

"It didn't take him long to recover from the shock," Kim thought sarcastically, and got in without a word.

They delivered the letter to the post office, after which they drove back again. Instead of turning into the side lane to the villa, however, Luke continued on the main road.

"Where are you going?" Kim asked, puzzled.

"To the beach, I have to go out a bit to clear my head."

A little later he parked the car above a bay. They climbed down a small path, took off their shoes, and walked through the warm sand to the bank.

Slowly and in silence they walked along the water, thinking about their thoughts.

After a while, Luke dropped into the sand, tapped the palm of his hand invitingly next to him, and Kim sat down next to him.

"What do you think, is it about money or do I have to be seriously worried?" He asked quietly, looking out at the sea with an unmoved expression.

"I wish I did," Kim said hesitantly. "It's hard to know what the sender is after, and unless we have any clue who it is, all we can do is wait."

"Wait." He gave a cynical laugh. "Wait. How long? Until somebody puts a bullet through my head? ”

“ It won't get that far, ”Kim tried to reassure him. "We'll pull out all the stops to find any clue, and besides, I'll be there."

Luke gave her a skeptical look. “How does a girl get a job like this in the first place?”

“Well, in the same way as my male colleagues. Police academy, patrol duty, office duty, transfer to the special unit, ”she explained with a smile.

"And you've got the proper training for it?"

"Sure," she nodded. "I can handle weapons, have completed a lot of combat training, and of course received psychological training." He

looked at her doubtfully. "But as a woman you don't have as much strength as a man?"

"It doesn't always depend on strength, you have to be able to use it correctly, that is the point."

Luke stood up. "All right, come on, show me what you can do," he grinned and stood up, legs apart, making an inviting movement with his hands. “Attack me.”

“No,” Kim said, embarrassed, “I'm not going to do that.”

“I knew it, you don't dare,” he said mockingly. "You're just a woman."

Before he could finish, Kim had jumped up, lunged at him, and although he was strong and muscular, after a few quick movements he was on his back and she was sitting astride him, pressing his arms into the sand.

He lay there motionless, staring at her in surprise.

"Satisfied?" Kim asked, smiling, letting go of his arms.

"Almost," he muttered with a strange twinkle in his eyes, and put his hands on her hips.

Suddenly Kim became aware of the precarious position in which she was sitting on top of him. At the same moment, despite the thick fabric of her jeans, she felt Luke's reaction to her proximity more than clearly. A hot, wistful need suddenly passed through her. For seconds she felt the urge to want to feel more of him, but then she was under control again and jumped up with a flushed head.

He sat up and grinned. "Okay, you won, but next time I won't be the one downstairs."

"I don't think so, there won't be a next time," she snapped, and Luke laughed uproariously.

Still fiery red in the face, she turned abruptly and grabbed her shoes. "We'd better go now."

"I think I'd better sit there a few more minutes," he said dryly, and with an incredulous shake of her head she started off.

Without waiting for him, she walked back towards the car, he followed her shortly afterwards and had caught up with her after a few steps. They walked side by side in silence, and while Kim stared angrily out of the window on the way back, a small smile played around the corner of Luke's mouth the whole time.