Page 484 of The Sinner: James

A pause follows.

“He has no friends,” she says after a few moments.

“How would I know about you then?”

My question is met with silence.

“Open the door, Abby. This is important, and it could save his life.”

A few more seconds pass before the lock shifts, and the door slides open. The woman steps forward, trying to catch sight of me.

I step out of the shadow, grab her by the elbow, and nudge her back in.

“Hey,” she says as I shut the door behind us.

The faint light coming from the ceiling falls over me.

Thunderstruck, she pulls back.

“What the fuck...?” she mumbles, unable to peel her eyes away from me. “Who are you?” she murmurs, her breath shaking.

“Can we talk?” I ask, flicking my chin toward the living room.

She steps backward, stumbling over the furniture.

“Yes…” she says hesitantly before showing me to the room.

It’s a small space with books tucked in bookcases, a couple of armchairs, and a sofa, the kind of antique furniture you’d find at a flea market.

I slide onto the couch.

Still standing, she stares at me with unabashed curiosity.

“What do you want from me?” she asks, her eyes moving over me. “You can’t be his friend...” she says. “He never had any real friends.”

“Do I look like his friend?” I ask, giving her a small smile, trying to quench the woman’s apprehension.

She leans against the table.

“He didn’t have any family left other than his mother,” she says, still very much baffled.

“And his father.”

“Who hasn’t kept in touch with him,” she adds. “He would’ve told me if there was someone else.”

I study her face before gesturing to one of the armchairs.

“Take a seat, Abby.”

“How do you know my name?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Searching my eyes, she slowly lowers herself into her seat, her gaze locked with mine.

“I came to you because I need to find him before the other people do,” I say.

Suspicion creeps over her face.

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