Chapter 2

At 10:30 pm, I parked my car on the side of the road across from Starlight Avenue Residences.

Then, I rolled down the window, lit a cigarette, and called my buddy, Daxton Covey. Daxton lived in an apartment next to the complex, and we often played basketball together.

"Hey, Geoff, it's Thanksgiving! Shouldn't you be spending time with your mom? What do you want with me?"

"Daxton, grab the baseball bat from your car and meet me downstairs at Block 8 of Starlight Avenue. Now."

Hearing my icy tone, Daxton didn't ask any questions. "I'll be there in five."

After hanging up, I took out my phone and opened the smart home app for our apartment.

Leah had always complained that smart devices could compromise our privacy, but I was always paranoid that I'd forgotten to turn off the gas before leaving home, so I'd insisted on installing a full set of smart home devices.

I tapped into the robot vacuum's control panel. The screen read, "Device error. Cleaning paused."

I frowned. I'd made sure the apartment was spotless before leaving. There was no way a cable or some random clutter could have jammed it.

So, I tapped on the robot vacuum's live snapshot feature. The image buffered for two seconds before loading.

The camera's low angle, combined with the fact that the living room's main lights were off and only the projector was on, made the image rather dim. But I could still make out what was there.

The object jamming the vacuum's brush roller was a black men's athletic quick-dry T-shirt. It definitely wasn't mine. I didn't wear that brand.

Beside the T-shirt, on the rug near the couch, lay a woman's blouse, carelessly tossed aside. The material was white silk.

I zoomed in and stared hard at the collar of that blouse. It was identical to the one Leah had been wearing in the selfie she'd sent me from what was supposed to be a hotel in Brockdale just ten minutes ago.

My stomach churned violently as a wave of nausea surged up in me.

I took a screenshot, closed the app, and sent Leah a cropped close-up image of the white blouse. "Didn't you take this blouse to Brockdale? I remember you were wearing it when you left yesterday."

A minute later, Leah replied.

"Oh, that one. I thought it looked a little wrinkled, so I changed into a blue one right before I left yesterday. I probably just tossed this one on the couch without thinking. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I was checking the security camera just now and noticed the blouse had fallen onto the floor."

"Well, I guess Micah probably knocked it off by accident while grabbing something. Honey, don't worry about it. I'll tidy everything up when I get back from my business trip."

A while later, someone yanked open the car door.

Daxton climbed into the passenger seat, panting, with an actual metal baseball bat in his hand. "What the hell's going on? I thought you went to your parents' house! Are we out to catch someone cheating? Who is it?"

I handed him my phone, my voice ice-cold.

"Leah."