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“Off work?”

“Yes. There are just some things I need to take care of.”

“You want to tell me what?”

“No, it’s Wednesday. You won’t get busy if at all until after four. I looked at the schedule. You’ve got Kristen coming in at noon. She’ll be able to handle the lunch crowd by herself. If things get slammed for some reason, you can call me.”

“Please tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing. I just need to work some things out. I’m fine. I swear.”

“Yeah. Okay. Fine. Just keep your phone on you. I’ll have Kristen text you if she’s in trouble.”

“Perfect,” I said, untying my apron. PJ stood in front of the kegs. I went over to him and planted a kiss on his cheek. It startled him in the way my father had startled me today. I didn’t wait for my brother to change his mind. I scooted out from behind the bar and tore up the interior stairs to my apartment.

Fumbling for my key, my phone beeped with an incoming text. When I opened my messaging app, I was met with a wall of text.

Corrine. You looked so pretty in your skirt the other day. But you shouldn’t have worn it. You know the rules. Red isn’t your color.

I’m working on trying to forgive you. I know you talked to the police. I know you told them things that weren’t true. I want things to be like they were before everything went sideways. Remember how well we fit together? Remember how I made you feel? You can feel that way again. Think about how good it will be.

Think of my gift for your father as a show of good faith. A reminder of what I can do for you. And what I can take away.

I’ll call you soon. But know that I see you. You’ll always be mine. No matter how much you want to hurt me. I know it’s not you. I know they tried to turn you against me. Wait for me. I won’t be long.

I held the phone to my breast, right over my heart. No. I would not lose control of this. Mina would see the truth soon enough. Any day now, I would get the call.

I looked at the text again. He knew I went to the police. He knew about my father. Of course he knew. Of course he would check up on me. I’d been wrong to think he’d ever forget about me or how he made me bend to him in the dark.

TWENTY-SEVEN

MINA

The dead dove lay at my feet. Its two fledglings cooed a few feet away from me, hidden in the landscaping. It was our fault. The mother dove had made a nest on the sitting-room windowsill. When the weather allowed it, we left the window open and sprinkled birdseed out for her. She’d gotten used to humans. It would have been easy for someone to walk up and snatch her from that nest.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I went into the garage and found a small shovel. I dug a hole next to the rose bushes and buried her. All the while, her fledglings stayed nearby.

I had to tell someone. The ribbon around the dove’s neck was deliberate. She hadn’t just been felled by someone’s barn cat. She was strangled. Placed where I would find her.

Complicit. My dove.

I could no longer explain everything away. Someone was goading me. Someone wanted to send a message.

I went inside. Tossing my keys on the kitchen counter, I pulled out my phone. Who should I call? Roy? 911?

Slowly, I looked through the house. Nothing was out of place. The French doors to the workout room stood ajar. I’d left them that way this morning. Lock would have closed them if he were home. He also would have re-stacked the weight plates on the north wall. I’d left a ten-pounder and a twenty-five-pounder leaning against the mirrored east wall. I put them back on their bars, walked out, and locked the doors behind me.

Lock was gone. If he’d been here in my absence, he never would have left the room in that minimal amount of disarray. He never chastised me for things like that. He simply put things back in the order he needed and moved on.

The dove couldn’t be his doing. The mere presence of something so unclean would have been intolerable to him.

I found myself back in the garage. I opened the garbage bin next to the door. It was empty. The plastic liner had been taken out. That too was unlike Lock. He would have replaced the liner immediately.

Had I done it and forgotten? Had someone been through our garbage?

It started to rain. I walked outside anyway. In my bare feet, I walked down the driveway. By the time I got there, my clothes were soaked through. My hair stuck to my head. I shivered from the cold.

I opened each tote. All the bags were neatly tied. I threw them on the ground, spilling the contents.