On the other side of the bridge the vibrating ends. When we come around a bend along the water, a large, dark house is finally in the distance. The moon illuminates the bay and I can see that the house is perched high at the tip of the little island, stately and beautiful with a pillared porch. Leo cuts the headlights while we are still a ways off and pulls into a shadowy spot on the far side of the garage, where the car is out of sight.

“We have to go in the back,” Riel says. “And don’t turn on any lights. The neighbors will call the police if they think someone’s here. Especially if they think it’s me.”

“I thought you said this was your grandparents’ house.”

“My grandfather’s technically, and he hates me. My grandmother loves me,” she says. “But no one cares what she thinks anymore because she left him years ago. She lives in Scottsdale now. My grandfather lives in Arizona, too, during the winter, but they’ve spent summers at this house since my mom was a kid. The neighbors are obsessed with my grandfather. They love to report back anything he might want to know. Honestly, he’s an ass to them so I don’t get it. But then he’s a politician. They specialize in making people love them.”

INSIDE, THE HOUSE is even more beautiful. At least what I can see of it with the lights off. But it is surprisingly bright with the almost-full moon shining through the many windows. It’s everyone’s faces that stay mostly cast in shadow.

The kitchen is open and vast with white, polished cabinets, shiny stainless-steel appliances, and lots and lots of granite. There is a massive vase of white flowers in the center of an island, the bouquet carefully designed to appear gathered haphazardly. The flowers give the room a sweet, summery smell. Honeysuckle. I remember it from the little cottage we rented for years on the Cape back when my mom was alive.

“Why are there flowers if no one’s home?” I ask, glancing over at Jasper. I can feel how not sure he is about us being stuck out here in the middle of nowhere. And the truth is, I feel more nervous now that we’re in the house. Confined. “Are you sure somebody’s not here?”

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” Leo says, excusing himself toward an even darker back hallway.

He has definitely been here before. He knows where to go even without lights, and as he brushes past me I feel a wave of disgust. He wishes we weren’t here, too. That I wasn’t, actually. He hasn’t made eye contact with me once since we left the bar, but even so, I have been able to feel how much he doesn’t like me. He doesn’t approve of Riel bringing us along.