“I don’t usually—”
“Three … two … one!”
The moment Ziya dropped the ball down the first ramp, Amie felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a new email notification on the screen.
At first glance, it looked like spam. The sender’s address was a string of numbers and letters, and the subject line read:be aware
Swiping the notification, she opened the email. There was no text, only two photos. Amie tapped on the first one to enlarge the image.
It was a hallway in their building. There was an odd texture to the photo that Amie realized was a reflection on glass. Whoever took the photo had shot it through the little window in the door to the main stairwell at the end of the hall.
The image showed Benny standing at a door. His hands were on the knob, as if unlocking it. She opened the second photo, which was shot from the same location. The door to the apartment was open, and Benny was halfway inside.
Amie checked the subject line again, then the email address, trying to find a clue as to why someone had sent this to her. She looked at the photos once more and finally saw it.
Two apartments down from the one Benny was entering, a dark-green welcome mat sat in front of the door. The person who lived two doors down from Amie had that same welcome mat in front of their door.
Benny was entering Amie’s apartment.
She sprung up off the couch, vaguely acknowledging a clattering sound from behind her.
“Amieee!”
“Huh?” Amie turned to see that she’d knocked over the wooden track on the back of the couch just as the Ping-Pong ball was rolling past.
“Easily fixable,” David said, patting the shoulder of a pouting Ziya as he headed for the wreckage. “I’ve done worse. One time I knocked into a table and sent five hours of work crashing to the ground.”
He paused, raising his eyebrows at Amie before kneeling behind the couch. “Everything okay?”
“Look.” She climbed onto the couch and leaned over the back to show David the photos on her phone. Ziya hurried over to look as well.
“It’s my apartment,” she said. “Some anonymous email just sent me these photos of Benny going into my apartment.”
“Is he still there?” Ziya asked.
The room fell silent as they all looked at each other for an answer.
Ziya moved first, scrambling around the couch and bolting for the door. Amie launched off the couch and followed, hearing David’s footsteps close behind her. They all came to a stop outside of the closed door to Amie’s apartment. Ziya tried the knob.
“Locked,” she announced. Then, after a beat: “Open it!”
“Oh!” Amie patted herself down, searching for her keys.
“Purse,” Ziya said.
“Ahhh.” Bolting back to David’s apartment, Amie grabbed her keys from her purse and ran back, unlocking the door. She grabbed Ziya’s arm before the other woman could go charging in. “Hang on, Z.”
“Let me go first,” David said, his voice low as he pushed open the door and stepped through. “Hello?”
No response. Aside from a car alarm blaring in the distance, the apartment was silent.
Amie released Ziya’s arm as they followed David inside.
Ziya immediately split from the group, peering behind Amie’s couch as David went to check the kitchen. Amie lingered in the front hallway, looking around for any sign that Benny had been there (or still was).
Her left foot slipped a little, and she looked down to see a folded piece of paper under her shoe. Crouching down to pick it up, she unfolded the paper. Scribbled messily in black ink were six words:
Stop now before it’s too late
