He pulled his heavy winter coat off the hook by the door and zipped it up to his chin.

He slipped the backup drive into his inside pocket, though I knew it wasn’t the real one—he had already copied the files to three different secure servers.

“I’ll be back before morning,” he said.

He stepped out into the cold, the wind catching the door and slamming it shut behind him.

The house felt incredibly empty the moment he left.

I walked around the living room, checking the locks on the front door, the back door, and the sliding glass porch door.

Every window was shut tight, but the cold air still seeped through the frames.

I sat on the sofa, wrapping a heavy wool blanket around my shoulders, keeping my eyes fixed on the driveway.

The minutes crawled by like hours.

The clock on the microwave read 12:15 AM when I heard a faint crunching sound outside.

It wasn’t the sound of snow falling.

It was the distinct sound of heavy boots stepping on the frozen gravel near the side of the garage.