A local thief and outcasted police detective, Park Seonghwa, become unlikely partners in crime to solve a string of murders.
START: 3.31.2020
FINISH: 2.20.2021
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record 21...AUGUST 9
6:32 PM
THERE IS A KNIFE pointed at Seonghwa's throat. He swallows nervously, lowering the hand that just knocked on the door as the shaky hand gripping the hilt slowly lowers the blade.
Recognition flashes through Levi's eyes, her shoulders sagging with a relieved sigh. "Seonghwa? What are you doing here?"
His heart skips a beat at the sound of his name rolling off of her lips. He thought she would have forgotten while she was drunk.
"Amit called. He told me what happened," he explains softly, noticing the way her eyes keep shifting around the road behind him. Then his gaze drops down to her mouth, an angry red scratch running through her lower lip. "Woah. What the hell happened?"
She peeks over her shoulder at Cam napping on the couch, buried underneath a blanket. Officer Evans left him in her care, something she found surprising considering the way she lost her temper at the police department.
Tensions between him and his wife must have reached a peak because Carla spends almost all of her time away from home, tucked away in the corners of her flower shop. She hasn't even responded to Levi's texts asking when she would come pick up her son. Levi is starting to suspect that she might end up keeping the boy overnight.
Levi looks back at Seonghwa, holding a single finger to her lips as she steps out of the way. "Shh. Come in."
He follows behind her as she leads him to her bedroom, gently closing the door behind the two of them. She doesn't want to disturb Cam if she doesn't have to. The little boy hasn't been getting enough sleep as is. He told her, eyes teary, that his parents have been shouting back and forth at each other during the rare times that they are both home.
"Sit," she says, pointing at her desk chair as she seats herself on the edge of her bed. She brings her knees to her chin. "The letter is on the desk too if you want to look at it."
He does as she requests, his tall frame almost looking too big for the small chair. It squeaks loudly as he sits down and reaches for the crumpled piece of paper. She watches his expression shift from calculative to disturbed as he reads each line. As he bites his lip, she thinks he feels it too.
Fear. Uncertainty. Unease.
He pulls out an old piece of paper, a tiny square, and sets it next to the letter. She recognizes it from the Paradise Motel, the note they found hidden behind the bed. His eyes dart between the two rapidly.
"The handwriting matches. It's the same messy, cursive pen strokes," he announces somberly, checking Levi to see her reaction. Her eyes seem fogged over, nails digging into her palms. She is not taking it well.
"I thought so, but I couldn't be too sure." Her voice is weak and betrays her inner turmoil despite her attempt to keep her face from crumbling apart. She picks at the end of her shorts.
