Whatever Celeste wanted could wait.
Right now, everything else mattered more.
Pam.
He observed her a moment.
The two sisters didn’t necessarily look alike. Gina was more petite with wavy, dark-brown hair while Pam was taller with a broader build and dirty-blonde hair.
Today, Pam had dark circles under her eyes that hadn’t been there last night. Her blazer from the restaurant was gone, replaced by a thick cardigan, but the tension in her shoulders had only increased.
Duke and Andi stepped into the mist. The air bit at Duke’s cheeks, cool and damp. He tugged his leather coat tighter as they crossed the short distance to Pam.
“Morning,” Andi said. “Thank you for meeting us.”
“Thank you for coming.” Pam’s voice sounded like she’d worn the edges off it with worry. She clutched the strap of her purse so tightly her knuckles had gone white. “I didn’t sleep much.”
“That’s understandable considering everything that’s happened,” Andi said.
Duke offered a small nod. “We’ll go in together.”
Pam fumbled with her keys as they approached the glass entry door. A faded piece of paper listing tenant last names and apartment numbers was taped beside the buzzer panel. James–2B.
Duke braced himself for whatever they might find.
Andi watched as Pam unlocked the door, holding it open so they could step into the small lobby.
The space smelled faintly of carpet cleaner and old takeout. Mailboxes lined one wall. Someone had taped a flyer for a lost cat to the bulletin board, the ink slightly running from the humidity.
A narrow staircase led upward. The banister wobbled under Andi’s hand as they climbed. Gina’s floor was quiet—no TVs, no music. Just the soft hum of an unseen boiler and the distant thud of footsteps somewhere above.
“Her place is this way.” Pam led them down a hallway with thin, worn carpet.
Doors lined the sides, each with a brass number, some more polished than others. A faint scent of bacon drifted from one apartment and incense from another.
They stopped in front of 2B.
Pam held the key, her fingers trembling. “I came by once after she went missing. With the police. They didn’t find anything. I haven’t been back since.”
Pam lifted her hand toward the lock.
And stopped.
Andi saw what had stopped her the same time Pam did.
The door wasn’t closed all the way.
Just like Andi’s hotel room the night before, the door to Gina’s apartment sat just slightly off the frame, the latch not quite caught. A sliver of darkness showed in the gap, barely noticeable unless you were looking directly at it.
Pam’s breath hitched. “I—I locked it. When I left with the police, I locked it. I’m sure I did.”
Duke stepped in front of the women. His posture went from relaxed to alert in a single heartbeat, every line of his body tightening. “Stay back.”
Andi’s muscles tensed as she wondered what was on the other side.
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
