Then she closed the files she’d been working on and searched old social-media posts for Asgaard-T-Chace in Cleveland. She dug into some of the personal photos and updates that Jeff’s colleagues had put up over the years, looking for Vida Warren. She combed through images of people gathered at office events, at bars, at parties.

And there she was.

Lisa found photos of Vida at a Christmas party that were only a few years old. Staring at them, the memory of meeting her came back. Vida was attractive, but she was also kind of out there. Lisa saw it again as she met Vida’s gaze on her screen: that wild glint in her eyes went right through you.

This woman is trouble.

Lisa’s worry about Vida and Jeff gnawed at her.

The way Jeff had kept things from her, the way he’d grown so angry, so intense, beating up their home invader, ranting about Vida until he nearly broke a glass in his hand. Throughout all of their lives together, she’d known Jeff to be calm, reticent, almost withdrawn. But these days, something was raging in him. Lisa had never known this side of him, as if he’d become Jekyll and Hyde.

And what if Vida is connected to this Loften creep?

She stood, went to the window, cupped her hands to her face, thinking of how Jeff had come home all bloodied the night they caught Loften, then of his insistence not to tell the police about Vida. I’ll handle it.

Roland Dillard’s caution about Jeff came back to her, too. His violent streak and that eye-for-an-eye thing can be dangerous. Never know where it could lead.

But she’d known Jeff for nearly ten years now; they’d been married for seven years. He was a decent, honest guy who’d survived a horribly hard childhood. Like her, he’d been unable to escape the specter of the death of someone close to him.

Lisa didn’t know what to do or where to turn.

Staring out her second-floor office window, she glanced at the security sensors and the strategically mounted surveillance camera, so thankful to have one covering every room of the house. Staring out, she was pleasantly surprised to see Roland working in his backyard garden.

Her surprise deepened when she saw Nell digging vigorously alongside him, like a strong, healthy woman. She must be having a good day, Lisa thought.

Dillard stopped, drank from a water bottle, checked his phone, then, by chance, turned and looked up at her watching him from her window. As if busted, she flushed with guilt. He smiled and gave her a little wave. She waved and smiled back, noticing that Nell had turned, looked up at her, too.

But Nell did not smile or wave.

At that moment, Lisa’s computer and phone pinged. She left the window to see a message from her sister.

Free for a quick chat?