Page 131 of The New Couple in 5B

He nods, satisfied. “Well, you and your husband, your friends, your sister—you’re safe now. That’s the important thing. The rest of the pieces will fall into place.”

“What will happen to them?” I ask. “To Ella and Charles, to Abi?”

It’s strange that I still care about Charles and Ella. So many years of thinking of them as friends, a kind of surrogate family, leaning on them while Ivan was dying. Was it Ella who bumped his dosage, sped his passing? I guess it will all come out.

“We’ve arrested Ella Aldridge and Abi Bekiri for abduction and attempted murder. More charges are pending based on the outcomes of the investigations into the deaths of Dana Lowan, Xavier Young and Betty Cartwright.”

I think about what Ella said, about evidence that linked Chad to Dana’s murder. Naturally, I say nothing. I try to put the pieces together, imagine what could mean so much to me in this world that I would scheme like that and kill for it.

I can’t think of anything, not even love.

“Ella said that the building has a kind of power. That it’s a dream maker—or it was. And that only a certain type of person should be allowed to live there, otherwise it loses its energy, becomes less.”

Detective Crowe gives me the look that has become familiar, a kind of knowing, seen-it-all smirk. “You believe that?”

I shake my head, thinking about it. “There’s more in heaven and earth, Horatio, than dreamt of in your philosophies.”

“When people start quoting Shakespeare, that’s my cue to leave. Stay easy for me to find, Ms. Lowan. I still have lots of questions for you—and your husband.”

“Rosie?” I turn to see Chad trying to sit up and move over to him quickly. When I look back at Detective Crowe, he’s gone.

“I’m sorry,” says Chad, reaching for me. “I’m so sorry you were in danger, Rosie. I trusted them. I thought they were our friends. How could I have been so wrong?”

“I trusted them, too,” I say, putting my hand to his cheek. “None of that matters now. We’re safe and well.”

“I’ll never forgive myself,” he says, pulling me close. “We almost lost everything, each other, our lives, because I couldn’t see what was right in front of me.”

I climb up on the bed and lie beside him. “There was no way to imagine any of this, Chad.”

“I should have,” he says. His tone has gone dark. “I know what people will do.”

When I look at him his eyes are angry and sad, something I rarely see in him, even after all he’s lost and been through.

“No more darkness,” I whisper. “Now we move into the light.”

I think about what Arthur Alpern said about breaking the chain, about healing.

It will be us. I know that in my heart. We’ll be the ones to heal whatever ails the Windermere. We’ve rooted out the sickness, and now we’ll bring wellness into those walls. We’ll stay. We’ll work; we’ll make love. We’ll grow our family.

No more spying and secrets, blackmail and murder. And definitely no more game night.

I look over to my sister. They’ve never met—Chad and Sarah. But she’s gone.

I find her outside by the vending machine, trying to get a wrinkled dollar into the slot. I take it from her, smooth it out on my leg and then slide it in. She chooses a bag of cookies, sits on a nearby bench. We share it in silence.

“I think I need to go home,” she says. “I don’t like it here.”

I laugh a little. “I can understand why.”

“This city, that building. It’s not safe.”

She’s right, of course. But then again, the world isn’t safe.

“This is my home,” I tell her.

She shakes her head.

“I thought they were going to kill us.” She looks down at her small baby bump. Instinctively, I put my hand on it and she puts her hand over mine. She’s well. They didn’t drug her; small and innocent, she was easy enough to overwhelm and lock away. They baby is healthy inside her, unharmed. My niece or nephew. My connection to my sister is strong, but not strong enough to bring me home.

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