My mind was still racing from what had happened a few hours ago. I’d come to on the floor in the bedroom with Shelby still standing next to the door. I’d been scared to go out, but I knew I couldn’t stay in my room forever, and my cell phone was on the living room table. I’d opened the door slowly and had inched out with Shelby. She’d been quieter, which made me think the place was empty, but you could never be too sure. I had walked into the living room and grabbed my phone before darting back into the bedroom with Shelby right on my heels. I had shut the door and breathed heavily, my back against the door.

It was a silly move. I knew I should’ve left the house, gone anywhere else, but I didn’t know where he was. He could still be inside or somewhere on the property. He could be anywhere.

I needed to call the cops and get someone there, fast.

They’d arrived less than five minutes later and combed the house from top to bottom while I called Keith to let him know what happened. He’d been completely silent when I spoke and then he’d said quietly, “I’m so sorry I’m not there.”

“Is anything missing?”

“Hmm?” I looked up at the cop standing in front of me. They’d been asking me that question over and over, and I’d told them the same thing each time. “No, nothing is missing.”

But that wasn’t true at all.

The place had been ransacked—drawers turned over, couch turned inside out—and in the bathroom, all the bottles had been dragged out and scattered across the floor.

Behind them…

There was nothing.

No duffel bag.

No money.

And all I could think of was Hooks’s face in the car.

You really don’t know what you’re doing.

But trust me, you’ll learn.

“Mrs. Wileson?”

“Oh, yes?” I said, looking up at the cop who was staring at me.

“I said was it possible that you left the front door unlocked when you came inside?”

I racked my brain for what I’d done when I had gotten home from Vanessa’s. I’d been tired and more than a little drunk, but I’d locked the door, hadn’t I?

Had I?

“I’m not sure,” I said. “I mean, I think I did, but I don’t really remember, to be honest.”

“Okay. Did you see the intruder at all when he came into your bedroom? Anything you can tell us that might make it easier to identify him?”

“No,” I said. “I didn’t see anything. When he opened the door, I was standing right there, and it hit me in the face. I fell on my back, and then all I remember was being so thankful that Shelby was there.”