“We lost touch,” Andrea admitted. “I mean, after the hotel thing, and the police, and it came out in all the papers, I wanted to reach out to him—but I knew I shouldn’t. It would have just made things worse—for him, not me. Before I left to come here, I looked him up on social media, typing in a bunch of names I thought might work . . . but he wasn’t anywhere.” She sighed. “I think about him a lot.”

“I get it,” Ronnie said.

“What about you? You don’t think of . . . of that awful guy, do you?”

“No,” Ronnie said quickly. “Or, well, I do . . . but not fondly.” She shut the door to their bedroom. “I hope I never see him again. But I worry—”

“Don’t worry,” Andrea interrupted. “It doesn’t seem possible.”

After she hung up, she placed the spreadsheet in an envelope and wrote out Andrea’s address. She thought about leaving Esme alone for the few minutes she’d be outside, but it made her nervous. As luck would have it, Mrs. Lombardo was watering her flowers right below Ronnie’s balcony. Ronnie smiled down at her. “Do you mind coming up for a sec?”

“Don’t have anything else to do,” Mrs. Lombardo said, amicably enough.

Once the babysitter was in the apartment, Ronnie headed to the mailbox at the corner. The metal door made a dissonant squeal as she pulled it open and dropped the letter inside.

There was a shortcut back to the apartment through the parking garage, which was sparse at this time of day. Her hard flats echoed loudly against the concrete. Something dripped in a corner near a parked minivan, and there was a noxious smell of oil coming from one of the bays. Something metallic sounded from the other side of the garage—like someone had dropped a set of car keys. Ronnie turned around slowly, suddenly alert. Someone was moving stealthily through the shadows, like they didn’t want to be seen.

“Hello?” she called out.

She crept around a bulky black SUV so it would form a barrier between her and whomever it was. “Hello?” she called out again.

Another footstep. Ronnie squinted into the darkness, only able to make out the shape of a person coming toward her. Her mouth went dry. This is how it ends, she thought. Her mind flashed to Vanessa lying unconscious on the carpet where Jerrod had left her.

“Please,” she said, a sob rising in her throat. “Who’s there?” She almost said his name. Jerrod?

The figure stepped forward. Ronnie began to bargain. Please keep me safe, she willed. I’ll be a better person. I’ll always tell the truth.

An overhead spotlight shone down on the advancing figures, sharpening their features. Ronnie was so surprised that she straightened against the wall abruptly and banged her head on the concrete pillar. “Oh!” she cried out.