I Said “Okay” And Packed Before They Knew What I’d Sent

and Tyler was pretending to text someone for help. Three hard raps. Front door. Not neighbor-knocks. Official ones.

Everybody froze.

Even the refrigerator sounded loud.

Dad hissed, “Don’t open that.”

Which was funny, because it was my hand already on the knob.

Detective Mullen wasn’t in plain clothes like on TV. She wore slacks, a county badge clipped to continue reading …