I made the next left, and at the end of the road, which dead-ended against a stand of trees, I spotted a car I didn’t recognize. As I approached, moving slowly, I saw it was about ten years old, with a dented bumper and a missing gas cap. I stopped behind it and looked around but saw no one. No sign of Blake. No sign of anyone else.

On either side of the road were unfinished town houses, the yards muddy, the sidewalks and driveways just gravel. A window on the upper level of the town house to my right, on the side of the street I’d parked on, was broken, the result of a thrown rock or another projectile. The jagged edges of the glass looked strangely menacing in the midafternoon light. It seemed like a good idea to remain inside the car. If I stepped out onto the dirty road, I’d be exposed to anyone who might be watching, including Blake, and since I didn’t know what I was getting into, it felt more secure to wait as long as possible.

But, again, Blake read my mind. His next text came.

Come inside one closest to you. Door unlocked.

This was the last turning point.

I could easily turn and go. The car was still running. All I needed to do was drop it in gear and swing around over the messy road, heading back out toward town. I could travel straight to Bill and Karen’s house, where I assumed Rountree still waited, and spill everything I knew. I’d face some nasty music, but I’d be safe. And so would my family.

I wouldn’t be walking behind door number three, not knowing what waited for me.

The phone dinged again.

Coming? It’s time.

It was. And I knew it.

I just didn’t know exactly what it was time for. But I grabbed the bat, pushed open the car door, and started up the gravel sidewalk to the front door of the town house beneath the lowering gunmetal sky.

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

I placed my hand on the knob and turned. And the door swung open and wide. I stood in the doorway for a moment, the bat in my left hand, resting against my leg.

It wasn’t lost on me that all of this had started because I agreed to go inside a house I didn’t belong in the night before. I’d pushed open that door and gone down the wrong road. And there I was again.