“Your wife is pretty,” Aaron said. “I didn’t see your son, but I know his name. Henry, right? I’ve seen about three million pictures of the kid on Facebook and Instagram. Most people try to keep their kids off of there, but not you. No, sir. That’s the most photographed and shared kid in the world. He could be a Kardashian.”

“Aaron—”

“I made a mistake, didn’t I?”

He seemed to want me to answer, but I had no idea what he was talking about. “A mistake?”

“At your house.”

“You mean, you tried to break in?” I asked. It seemed like a much smaller transgression when compared to waving a gun around at us. But I was in no real position to argue with him.

“I didn’t try to break in,” he said. “I’m not a thief.” He seemed genuinely offended by the implication. “I’ve never stolen anything. No, the mistake I made was leaving your house at all this morning. Because she saw me. And she can identify me. She can tell the cops I was there, and so they’ll know what I’ve been up to and anything I might have said.”

His words came back to me, the ones Amanda reported he’d said to her: It was terrible that the girl got killed.

He went on. “But that’s a loose end I’ll have to tie up. That’s something I’ll have to go back and take care of when all is said and done. When I’m finished with the two of you here.”

My bladder felt full to bursting. And every one of my joints ached as a chill passed through me. I considered running, just turning and dashing up the stairs, but unless Aaron was the worst marksman in the history of mankind or he really wasn’t ready to pull the trigger of that gun, I stood no chance of getting away.

And given the way he looked, the flaring hatred in his eyes, I harbored no doubts about his readiness to cut me down if I ran.

I consoled myself with the knowledge that Amanda and Henry remained at my in-laws’ house, with the police there. But I knew the cops couldn’t stay forever. And Aaron seemed to read my mind.

“Even if she isn’t home,” he said, “if she goes to a hotel or a relative’s house, I’ll find her eventually. Hell, there are enough photos of your stupid baby with his grandparents on social media as well. I can find them. You’re such a foolish idiot, you’ve drawn me a map.”

If he wanted to scare me, he did. More than anything in my life ever had. To the point that my body felt dissolved by the combination of cold, adrenaline, and a racing heart. I wasn’t sure I could have moved even if I’d wanted to.