The fury in him simmered. He felt feverish. He hated to fight his own body for control. As if he really needed another enemy right now. But it would be odd if the jangling tension in his belly weren’t there. It made perfect, seething sense.

But the dread that he felt, the deep unease at taking the two concrete steps to his own front door, held some unwelcome measure of surprise. He didn’t want to see Roy. He didn’t want to know what it looked like, whatever had transformed in him to bring him around to such a reckless thing.

Jonathan wasn’t afraid of Roy. Not exactly. But a stretch of dark possibility lay ahead—what would he have to do if Roy tried to be scary? He was a little bit afraid of that.

Jonathan wasn’t all bark and no bite. He’d bite if he had to, but he didn’t even like the metaphor. He wasn’t an animal. This wasn’t a matter of teeth and claws. He was a man. Nothing as simple as survival was on the line. If he were merely worried about staying alive, he’d get back in the car and drive away.

This was about the kind of life he wanted and the irretrievable time he’d invested in getting near to having it.

The front door was closed, but unlocked.

Jonathan turned the doorknob. The hard stop at the end of its rotation marked the line to cross. Push, and he’d be inside with Roy. Whatever had changed between the two of them, it was likely to change a hell of a lot more before Jonathan crossed this threshold again going the other way.

Or he could open his hand. Let the knob roll back. Let the door stay closed. He could still just leave.

No, he couldn’t.

Jonathan pushed open the door. The coat closet was shut. He didn’t turn on the foyer lights. The brightness would leap out of the broken window into the neighborhood. It would be a beacon to helpful assholes everywhere as they walked their dogs or strutted back the way they’d come in their crazy green shorts and glowing headbands.

Broken glass from the busted side window crunched under his shoes in the dim entryway.

“Roy, it’s me. You want to come out and talk about this?”

The question rang into silence. No answer came back.

Jonathan stepped farther into the foyer. The gloom was heavier every few feet into the house. His ears strained to reel back some clue as to where Roy was in the darkness. All they caught was the ghostly ring of silence.

He leaned into the hall bathroom and flicked the switch inside the door. The foyer dawned into slightly better focus in the soft new light.