Chapter 3

Sarah sobbed through the phone. A baby cried in the background.

"Sarah, listen to me. Breathe," David said.

His voice dropped, suddenly laced with tenderness.

"I'm leaving right now. I'll be right there."

David killed the call. He lunged for his discarded jeans and ripped his car keys out of the pocket.

He took two steps toward the hallway before freezing.

The electronic keypad on the front door was dead. The magnetic deadbolts were locked tight.

"Where is the override key?" David demanded.

He spun around, his calmness completely gone.

I squeezed the metal of the backup key in my fist. I pressed my spine against the wall, hiding my hand behind my back.

My thumb swiped the screen of my phone. Still no signal.

"Claire. Give me the key. Sarah needs me right now."

He closed the distance between us, his massive frame blocking the only exit.

"Who is actually dead, David?" I backed away. "Is it you, or is it Mark?"

David stopped.

"Are you insane? You just heard Sarah. Mark drove off the overpass!"

"Mark texted me ten minutes ago!" I shoved my phone screen toward his face. "He said you drowned in the deep end. He sent a picture of your blood on the concrete!"

David’s face twisted.

He snatched the bottle of Halloween bourbon off the dresser and hurled it at the wall.

The glass shattered. Alcohol splashed across the floorboards, mixing with the stench of chlorine and copper.

"You're taking the word of a drunk over your own husband?" he yelled.

"You lied about where you were all night!"

"I told you not to answer his calls! You never listen to me!" He jabbed a pale finger at my chest.

"Is that why you've been screaming about a divorce all night? Have you been screwing Mark behind my back?"

The absurdity of the accusation knocked the breath out of me.

"Are you out of your mind? Mark is married to my best friend!"

"You always take their side!"

He grabbed my arm.

He twisted my wrist inward until the pain forced my fingers to uncurl.

David snatched the key from my palm.

"You make me absolutely sick," I spat at him, clutching my bruised wrist.

He didn't argue. He didn't even look guilty.

"I'm going to help Sarah. Don't wait up."

He marched down the dark hallway. The front door ripped open, letting in the wind and rain, and then slammed shut.

I stared at the empty entryway.

He didn't just leave to help a widow.

The desperate urgency in his eyes when Sarah called wasn't about friendship. It was something else.

The battery in the jack-o'-lantern died.

Total darkness swallowed the house.

I was completely alone. The storm battered the windows, rattling the glass in their frames.

I ran to the front door. Without the backup key, the deadbolt wouldn't engage manually. I was completely exposed.

I grabbed the dining chair from the kitchen table and dragged it across the floor. I shoved the top of the backrest under the door handle, wedging it tight against the wood.

I backed away into the center of the living room, gripping my useless phone.

Ten minutes passed in silence.

Then, footsteps approached from the exterior hallway.

Someone grabbed the door handle. They twisted it.

The door shoved inward a fraction of an inch before slamming into the wooden chair.

"I said we're done, David!" I yelled at the door. "Go sleep in your car!"

"Claire! Open the door!"

The voice on the other side of the wood wasn't my husband's.

Someone pounded a fist against the door frame.

"Claire, it's Mark! We have to go!"

My blood ran cold.

I stepped forward and kicked the bottom of the chair. It scraped backward.

The front door burst open.

A blinding phone flashlight hit my eyes.

Mark stood in the doorway, panting heavily.

His clothes were soaked through.

"They pulled David out of the pool!" Mark leaned heavily against the doorframe to keep his balance. "He has a pulse! They're taking him to the ER!"

I stared at the fresh blood dripping from Mark's chin.

"You're not dead," I whispered.

Mark wiped a mixture of rain and blood from his eyes. "What?"

"Sarah just called David. She was crying. She said you drove through a guardrail and died."

Mark froze. The flashlight in his hand trembled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mark said. "David fell into the water. We've been at the hilltop mansion all night!"