“He’s asking who I am and why I’m here.”

“What do I tell him?”

“Tell him the truth,” I said.

“Tell him Landon sent you to check on the wife he locked inside the house.”

“Oh my God,” Courtney muttered. “Mom is going to lose her mind.”

“I didn’t know, Marissa.”

“I swear to you I didn’t know they did that.”

“They just told me you were refusing to go on the vacation.”

I heard her car door open, the warning chime dinging repeatedly in the background.

“Ma’am, please step away from the vehicle and state your name,” the officer’s voice was much louder now.

“I’m Landon’s sister!” Courtney yelled back, her voice cracking with fear.

“I just came to bring groceries!”

“Marissa, please help me!” she cried into the phone.

Before I could answer, the line went crackly with static.

“We’ll need to take that phone, ma’am,” a new voice said.

It was Detective Miller.

“Detective?” I called out.

“Marissa, I’ve got her phone,” Miller’s voice came through Courtney’s line.

“She just pulled up in her SUV.”

“We are securing the scene now.”