“Eleanor will send Gareth,” Nora said. “He’s reckless enough to do her dirty work.”

“Gareth is a loose cannon,” I said. “He doesn’t think about consequences.”

“That makes him dangerous, Madeline.”

“I know,” I said, looking out the passenger window at the passing streetlights.

We arrived at my suburban street just past midnight.

The neighborhood was dark and quiet, the lawns manicured and still.

Nora pulled up to the curb a few houses down from mine.

“Call me the second you’ve locked it away,” she said.

“I will,” I replied, grabbing my bag.

I walked quickly up my paved driveway, my eyes scanning the shadows of the hedges.

The wind rustled the dry leaves of the oak tree in my front yard.

I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, immediately entering my security code into the wall panel.

The green light blinked, signaling the system was armed and active.

I went upstairs to Clara’s room first.

She was asleep, her pale face framed by her dark hair, her arm still in the plaster cast.

I closed her door softly and went back downstairs to the kitchen.