Dead Ink: A Karma World Romance (Karma Series Book 4) by Donna Augustine Page B

and then paused right before she picked it up. “Wait, how do you like to normally answer the phone?”
    “Say whatever you want.” He was sure it would be better than his normal, What do you want?
    “Dead Ink, may I help you?” She grabbed a pencil from the cup by the phone and looked for something to write on. He pushed the appointment book at her and she was off and running.
     
    ***
     
    Lars had gone back to tattooing, and the phone had stopped ringing, so Faith had taken it upon herself to sweep up a bit. She’d tried to ask Lars what else he needed but he kept getting that look on his face, like he couldn’t understand why she kept speaking to him.
    When there was nothing left to sweep, she tried to straighten up the shop. It wasn’t a complete mess but it was far from organized. She moved around and tried to group similar things together.
    Every so often she’d feel his eyes on her, watching. He probably thought she was going to mess something up, so she was careful not to do anything drastic. But she needed him to think she was useful. If she could keep the place running smoothly, he’d keep paying her, and it would buy her some time to figure out a plan.
    It was crazy how much relief she felt at having some purpose, even if according to Lars it was to answer the phone and kick people out. Anything to keep her mind off her life as it was now. Her family, career, everything gone. She’d just started to figure out who she was, build something to be proud of, and it was gone. The biggest question she had was how do you rebuild a life when you aren’t a person anymore? It wasn’t like she’d got divorced or moved to a new city. She had no past. As far as the majority of the world was concerned, she didn’t exist.
    But with money, she had options. She had no idea how much Lars would pay her but it was a beginning. Without an ID, she couldn’t even serve up fries at a local fast food joint. She’d had zero options before but now she did. People bought fake IDs all the time. She’d save and buy herself a new life.
    When she did, it would be one far away from Seattle and the memories of what she’d lost. There were too many friends there she couldn’t talk to anymore because, well, unfortunately they all thought she was dead. Nervous laughter threatened to burst from her and she covered her mouth, trying to hold it back. She didn’t want to explain to Lars why she was hysterically giggling but it was either that or cry.
    Out of some morbid curiosity, she’d looked up her obituary this morning on the phone Angus had given her. She’d known it was going to be there but she still had to see it. The part that had bothered her the most was the “Survived by her brother,” part. At least her parents weren’t alive anymore. She’d lost her mother to cancer when she was ten and her father in a car accident when she’d been nineteen. Her brother had turned eighteen only the month before.
    Her brother was tough though, even as a kid. He’d be okay. Maybe, at some point, she could reach out to him, explain what had happened. But not now, not until she got her own phone that she knew no one could track.
    Screams startled her and she dropped the boxes of gloves she’d been piling up. She looked to the window and saw a gang of people fighting across the street.
    “Lars, we have to call the police,” she said and looked over to where he was finishing up with a client.
    He looked up and at the window. “Why would we do that?” he said, completely unfazed.
    “There’s a gang fight across the street.” The front of the shop was all windows. He must be able to see what was going on.
    “Can I go out the back?” the client asked.
    “Yeah, sure,” Lars responded, neither of them seeming overly concerned.
    Faith ran over to the phone and dialed nine-one-one. Lars saw her and shrugged as the client threw his shirt back on. She watched the guy leave through the back exit while she wondered why the phone just