He’d been hoping to find her waiting for him in her car, but when he peered into the driver’s side window, he saw that it was empty. His eye went to the backyard gate, but it was closed. Could she be inside the house? As far as he knew, she still had her key to the place, and he moved forward slowly, approaching the front door with trepidation. His own housekey was out and in his hand, but he didn’t need it. The door was unlocked, and he opened it and walked inside.

She was waiting for him on the couch, in the dark. He flipped on the living room light as he walked in, and immediately noticed that something was wrong with her. Her skin was pasty, and there was a strange bulge beneath her right eye. When she opened her mouth, he could see that she had somehow lost a front tooth. “Hi,” she said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Her appearance made it easier for him not to be sucked in or won over. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “You made it pretty clear that you wanted nothing to do with me anymore. In fact, you said you wanted me to die.”

“I—”

“Does your husband know that you’re here?”

She looked genuinely puzzled. “My…husband? What are you talking about?”

“Julius Pickering?”

“Mr. Pickering?” She let out a small incredulous laugh, and he saw that one of her bottom teeth was missing as well.

Was it possible that he’d been the victim of some prank? Had Pickering made up that story and put a fake photo on his desk in order to throw him off his game and gain a psychological advantage? It was not outside the realm of possibility. You could do a lot with Photoshop these days.

He pushed those thoughts aside. They were beside the point. “What do you want?” he said tiredly. “Why did you break into my house?”

“I didn’t—”

“What do you want?” He walked around the edge of the counter that separated the living room from the kitchen and turned on the kitchen light, getting himself a cold water bottle from the refrigerator. He did not offer one to Florine. She still had not answered his question, and when he turned back to look at her, her demeanor had altered. There was a sly grin on her face, a change in expression that made her countenance seem even more disturbing.

“Remember my coworker Ling? Remember I told you she used to try and steal my accounts? Well, she died this morning.” Florine’s grin widened, and Coy could see that her gums were a dark grayish blue. “We’ve both had a lucky day.”