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The fence is perhaps thirty feet away. There’s a gate on the left side of the house. The neighboring roofline rises beyond it, dark against the sky.

Heather walks outside. Jamie follows.

The grass is damp beneath my shoes. My thighs ache with every step.

Heather crosses toward the far side of the yard.

There are plants arranged in two sections along the fence. Six hydrangeas stand in a row, evenly spaced and mature enough that Heather must have planted some of them years ago.

Farther down are three rose bushes. Beside them is a rectangle of dark soil with nothing growing in it.

Heather stops near the hydrangeas and turns back to us.

Jamie has gone very still.

Something cold settles beneath the pain in my legs. “You said they were in the backyard.”

Jamie doesn’t look at me. “Yeah.”

Heather folds her arms.

I step closer to the first row.

Heather nods. “Those are Jamies.”

My eyes move to the roses.

“Olivers,” she says.

Jamie makes a small sound beside me.

The empty rectangle is waiting beyond them.

Heather follows my attention. “I haven’t needed that one yet.”

Nothing in her voice changes.

Jamie is still staring at the hydrangeas.

Six men were buried beneath them before Heather brought him home. He knew that when he hid the closet key from me. He knew it when he let his phone remain untouched four feet away.

I thought fear made him stupid. That would have been easier.

Heather turns toward the house, and Jamie follows after one last look at the flowers.

I watch him go.

He knows exactly what she is.

He chose her anyway.

CHAPTER 36

Simon

The pill leaves grit behind my eyes.

Heather gets me downstairs with one hand against the back of my neck. I let her steer because the floor still feels half a second behind my feet.