GOLDEN || S. REID

𝟷𝟻: 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝙽𝚈

"Well, here she is," Eliza said, motioning to her car. It was a red 1967 Chevy Impala affectionately named Cherry. It was also the car that Eliza had lost her virginity in at the ripe old age of eighteen. For those that wondered, the car was in fact named before she'd lost her virginity. It was her starter car fresh out of Sophomore year at Trinity, a preparatory school actually located in New York City.

Eliza unlocked the driver's side door and slipped into the front seat, reaching over to grab the bag containing her mother's belongings. She got out of the car and snatched up the orange parking ticket that had been put under her windshield wiper. She opened the envelope and read the fine--ninety-five dollars for parking overtime and an additional sixty for a late response. One-fifty-five wasn't terrible, she'd definitely incurred larger parking violations when she was a teenager.

She threw the parking ticket back into her car before shutting the door and locking it once again. "Have you guys been in to see my mother's body?" Eliza asked, rifling through the back until she found the note. Her name had been written in cursive, though the letters were so close together that it almost looked unintelligible.

"Your mother's lawyer stopped us before we could get a chance," Emily said. "Said that immediate family had to see her first. We had him arrested for obstruction of justice but before we could get to see her we were called to the other side of Manhattan."

"Good," Eliza said, closing the plastic bag. "I hated Helena's lawyer. He was a real bitch to deal with."

She led them into the medical examiner's office, showing her ID at the door before they allowed her into the lab. Eliza allowed Emily to enter the lab first, hanging back to read the note that had been left to her. Spencer hesitated as well, stopping by the doorway to check on her.

She held up the note. "I'm just gonna read this and then maybe call my siblings to let them know that I haven't died."

"Do you want me to stay out here with you?"

Eliza shook her head. "No, go do your job. I'll give you guys the note after... I just want to check on the twins."

"Okay," he said softly. He still hesitated to leave, looking at her in concern before ultimately deciding to head into the lab with Emily. And no, it did not have anything to do with the pointed look she gave him as soon as he opened his mouth to argue.

Once Eliza was alone, she immediately had Riley on the phone, pressing the slim device between her shoulder and her ear in order to leave her hands free to read the note. The phone rang twice fully before Riley picked up. "This better be fucking good, I was in the middle of an episode of The Good Place."

"Nice to hear from you, too," Eliza deadpanned, sliding her nail through the top of the tape sealing the paper together. The pages separated from each other to reveal the blue ink on the inside. It was slightly water damaged, most likely from being inside Helena's mouth, but it was still legible.

"Where did you end up?" Riley asked. "What's the lucky fellow's name?"

"No one." Eliza rolled her eyes. "Did you and Noah get back safe last night?"

She skimmed the note, the cursive plus the watered down paper made it much more difficult to read than she initially anticipated. Eliza missed Riley's response as she made out the second line of words, or else known as a direct threat on her life.

"Holy shit--" Eliza dropped her phone, the glass screen shattering upon impact with the cheap linoleum. She could barely hear Riley's panicked voice filtering through her speakers as Spencer burst through the lab doors to check on her. Had her phone shattering really been that loud?