No, absolutely not. I shook off a shiver that traveled between my shoulders. Thankfully, it had been a couple of weeks from that break-in attempt at Jake’s house, and nothing else had happened since. It made me seriously consider the fact that maybe Franky was involved, and us confronting him may have worked to scare him off.

It was really the only theory that gave me any sense of comfort, which meant it would be the theory I stuck with until proven otherwise.

I got up and brought my half-eaten bowl of cereal to the sink, where I dumped the rest out after my appetite had been effectively destroyed. The trash compactor whirred and buzzed when I flipped the switch. I turned it off just as my doorbell rang.

Did Jake leave something?

I shuffled out of the kitchen and back to the front door, looking through the peephole and seeing no one. I cracked the door open and peeked outside, spotting a delivery truck driving down my street. I opened the door wider and looked down, my blood turning to ice in my veins.

It was a box. Same shape as the last one left on Robby’s door. It only took me a moment to shake off the curtain of fear, this one having a clear shipping and return label on the flap. There was no blood staining the sides either. My fight-or-flight response disappeared, replaced by a simmering excitement.

This was the gift I’d ordered for Jake. I planned on giving it to him at our cabin retreat for the book club. With a relieved breath, I went to close my door but was stopped by a friendly “Hey!” I looked down my steps and spotted Robby waving up at me, shielding his eyes from the sun that beamed directly into them.

I waved back, happy to see my neighbor. We weren’t the best of friends, but it was nice seeing a smiling face after that needless scare. “Hey, what’s up?”

Robby climbed up the steps, stopping just a couple down from me. “I was just going for a walk and spotted you. I wanted to see how everything was going?”

“Oh, it’s going,” I said, giving the universal answer to that question. “Just getting ready for my book club’s Blue Ridge retreat. How about you?”

“I’ve been busy applying to new jobs.”

“Did something happen at your old one?” Robby was a nurse at a local hospital and had always complained about his job, but it seemed like something pushed him into finally looking for a new position.