CHAPTER 36
The address Ebube sent was a nondescript café on the edge of town — the kind of place you only notice if you’re looking for it.
I stood outside, the world moving in a blur around me while my mind raced in fast-forward and slow motion all at once. The red dress from yesterday still clung to my skin like a second memory, but inside I felt stripped bare, vulnerable in a way I hadn’t allowed myself to feel for months.
What was I walking into?
A trap? A confession? Another fragment of the story no one wanted me to know?
My phone buzzed, but I didn’t check it. I was afraid the message waiting might change the equation again. Like a chessboard shifting under my feet.
I stepped inside.
The air smelled faintly of burnt coffee and rain-damp concrete. Dim light settled over the few
