Anything for a Friend by Kathleen M. Willett

Author:Kathleen M. Willett [Willett, Kathleen M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Later that evening, with his chili simmering in the Crock-Pot (he’d raised his eyebrows slightly at the random request), Pete announces that he’s going to take the train back to the city before dinner. “It’ll be easier if I go tonight,” he says with a sigh. “This meeting’s at ten a.m. I don’t want to leave here first thing in the morning and be stressed about making it on time. I’ll sleep better if I’m already where I need to be.” Since our apartment is occupied by subletters, he usually gets a room at the New York Athletic Club when he stays in the city.

I get why he wants to leave tonight, but I also really wish he weren’t going.

“You sure you have to?” I ask him, sitting on our bed watching him as he packs an overnight bag. “You can’t just do the meeting via Zoom?”

“Not this one,” he says, leaning down to kiss me on the cheek. “But I’ll be back tomorrow. And we’ll figure out your manuscript this weekend, I promise. Besides, you have Maya to keep you company.” Maya, who has cleaned my countertops more times in the last three days than I have in the last three months. And Lola, who has stayed in her own room all afternoon and evening, rather than in Kelsey’s. Something must have happened between them. Doubtful that Kelsey will tell me, but I’m going to try to talk to her about it tonight just the same.

Or, worse, it has nothing to do with Kelsey, and Lola is still upset by what I insinuated about the hair tie. I feel awful about it.

“There’s something I want to show you before I go, though,” Pete says, clearing his throat. He seems almost nervous, which he never does, and I’m immediately uneasy.

He sits down next to me on the bed and takes his phone out of his pocket. “You know I have this place souped up with the Ring cam, right? I did it a couple of years ago when my mom started complaining about the neighbors.” I nod, vaguely remembering. “So we have a camera on the deck. I should have thought to do this right away, but I never look at it, and it only occurred to me when you brought up the herbs again this afternoon. I pulled up the footage from the other night, the night something happened to your herbs. And you were right. Someone was on the deck.” He holds out his phone for me and presses play.

I see a figure walk out onto the deck from inside the house wearing a hoodie and leggings. The clock on the Ring camera shows that it’s 2:04 a.m. The figure moves lithely, and appears to be holding a large pair of kitchen shears. She hovers over each row of herbs briefly and then seems to scatter what she’s holding over the edge of the deck before she walks back inside. Her face is completely obscured by the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.