* * *
Can you meet me at the school for a dance class sometime this week? It would be an hour tops.
* * *
Hello? This is me asking, like we discussed.
* * *
Are you alive?
* * *
I can’t give Carter a date until I know Graham will be there.
But when we pull up, his house is dark. I stand on the porch for a moment after knocking, listening.
Nothing. No footsteps or shifting floorboards. No annoyed voice telling me to go away.
Just the faint whistle of wind through the trees and the creak of the porch beneath my boots.
I knock again, louder this time, the brass echoing dully against the thick wood. “Graham?” I press closer to the door. “It’s Vivien.”
Unease curls in my stomach.
I step back, glancing at the windows. The curtains are drawn tight, no light slipping through the edges.
Hopping down from the porch, I circle the side of the house and peer through the small window at the side of the garage, cupping my hands against the glass to block the glare.
Nothing but a workbench, a stack of neatly organized bins, and a car-sized empty space.
Is he gone? He doesn’t leave his house. Maybe he doesn’t have a car. But he got to the theater the other weekend somehow. It’s not like there’s a thriving ride-share industry in Surrender.
Audrey lowers the window as I approach. “Well?”
“He’s not there.”
Her brows lift slightly. “You knocked?”
“Yes, Audrey. I knocked.”
“And?”
“And no one answered.” I yank the passenger door open and slide inside, pulling it shut a little harder than necessary. “His car’s gone too.”
She studies me for a second. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I buckle my seat belt with more force than required. “Let’s just head back.”
She hesitates, then shifts the car into drive.
I sink back into the seat. I’ll think of something.
We pull up in front of the house ten minutes later.
Upstairs, I shut myself in my room. It’s the guest room on the southeast side that gets the morning sun. It’s where I stayed with Beverly when I was a kid. I could have moved into the master, but it felt intrusive. Audrey and I both picked guest rooms. She picked the yellow one down the hall. This room still has the same pale blue paint Beverly let me choose for it.
I pull out my phone and call Daphne.
