Page 73 of The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbi 1)

I laughed. “That’s what I said.”

He shook his head. “Don’t they look at the signs posted at the front of the neighborhood? We should report them.”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t a bother. And if we needed new siding then it would have been nice that they stopped by.”

“Still. Who tries to sell siding in such a new neighborhood? You’d think they’d do more research before breaking the law. If we weren’t moving soon, I’d report them.”

I pressed my lips together. Since when did he care about breaking the law? I didn’t know whether it was better to provoke him or not. Yes, getting him on camera would be good. But killing him would be better.

“Speaking of which,” he said before I could decide what to say. “Browse some houses today. I’m leaning toward something in the 33109 zip code. Let me know if you find something you like.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked as I followed him through the hall. “I thought you might want to look together.” I could set my computer up in the kitchen and try to get him to hit me. Even though the thought made my stomach turn over.

“I have some work to do.” He unlocked the basement door and opened it.

I had done something to earn another file. But I didn’t know what. Was it because of our fight last night? My “scene” at dinner? I hadn’t done anything wrong. “What are you working on?”

“Just writing down a few things before I forget. And I need to box up some of my files for the move.”

Of course he did.

“There’s some boxes in the garage if you want to start packing too. But look at the houses first. I know you’re going to find something you like.”

I strongly doubted that. “What’s in the safe down there?” I was feeling bold. And I was

also only a few steps away from the kitchen. If he hurt me, I’d have a record of it. A real one that I hadn’t misplaced.

A smile curled onto his lips.

Not a regular, “you’re stupid, Adeline,” smile. This one was sinister. And bone-chilling.

“We both know what’s in there,” he said.

I didn’t. I’d remember if he had told me. I didn’t even know it had been installed. He was keeping me I the dark, but trying to make me feel like I was crazy. He was a manipulative asshole. “What’s the password?”

“Stop being silly. You’re the one that made it, Adeline.”

I wasn’t being silly. For some reason I found that word extremely condescending. “That’s not funny. You know I didn’t make the password. I didn’t even know the safe was there until yesterday when I…happened upon it.” Crap, now he’d know I was snooping. I took a step back toward the kitchen. Come get me, you sick bastard. “And I want to know what’s inside.”

“Give your medicine a few more days to kick in and I’m sure you’ll remember, babe.” He switched on the light and was about to step down when he paused. “Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.”

He was taunting me. I just didn’t know why. What was his end game here? “I’m fine.”

“Great. Have fun looking at houses.” He disappeared down into the basement.

Chapter 36

He’d been down there for hours. Hours. I stared at the computer screen, clicking through the images of the house I'd pulled up. It was beautiful. With breathtaking views of the ocean. It was someone’s dream house.

But I wasn’t living a dream. I was living a nightmare. I eyed the basement door. Really. What the hell was he doing down there? It didn’t take this long to toss a bunch of files into some boxes.

I stood up and stretched, almost tripping over the box on the floor that I had been packing. It was odd playing along. Looking at houses, packing up plates. Everything in this house would be ash by Wednesday night.

Except for the stuff in that safe. It looked industrial. It was probably fireproof. What had he meant that I set the password? I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to ease the headache that was coming. Maybe he was down there trying to crack the code that I had set. Was it possible that I had actually set it?

I looked up at the camera. Sorry Ben. I tried. My husband would still be home for one more day. Maybe I’d wake up with more courage to antagonize him. It’s not like it took much. I walked to the top of the basement stairs and looked down. There were boxes on the floor and files strewn everywhere.

It didn’t seem like he was packing. It seemed like he was looking for something. He wasn’t in my line of vision. Every nerve in my body wanted to go down there and look at the open files. But what was the point? Stirring up memories wasn’t going to help me now. “I’m going to bed!” I called down the stairs.

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