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I stalled. No. It wasn’t on the market. Dany had asked me to show the place and finish the paperwork.

I need you to close a deal.

The money has already gone through.

It’s a matter of getting a signature and handing over the keys.

Overseas somewhere.

Hasn’t seen the place… a walk-through.

The gentleman is supposed to be there around eight.

In a flash, I recalled driving out there in the dark. A crumbling fountain. Hauntingly dark windows. Empty rooms. A sense of abandonment.

A king-sized bed. Heavy, blackout curtains. A cold breeze. Hands all over me. Fire and ice. Bruising kisses.

I can feel your heart. It’s beautiful.

I jolted at the sudden flash of memory, grappling for more, urgently hanging on to the bits I’d collected before they drifted away.

When nothing more came, I finished dressing, snagged my keys, and raced out the door.

Sitting in front of Branvilla estate, with sunlight bleeding through the canopy of fall leaves and dappling the ground, random and disjointed pieces of the puzzle returned.

As crisp October air brushed my cheeks, I remembered the impression of cold fingers on my skin.

“Mordecai,” I whispered, letting his name penetrate the fog that had settled over my brain.

Fog.

Fog over water.

Mill Dam.

Why was that significant?

I approached the front door, the brittle autumn leaves under my boots crunching and joining the chorus of birdsong echoing through the forest. I peered along the side of the mansion and recalled walking its perimeter in search of an outbuilding or shed.

He’d appeared out of nowhere. No warning. Nothing to announce his arrival. I’d never figured out how he arrived that night. No car. No taxi. In the quiet, I would have heard the sound of an engine.

No luggage.

“Mordecai.” I repeated it over and over, fearing I might forget.

I scanned the trees, unsure what I expected, then said his name louder. “Mordecai!” The only answer was the chirping birds.

I rapped lightly on the door, knowing the place was too vast for sound to travel far, but there was no buzzer. When I didn’t get a response, I tried again, pounding with a fist.

I couldn’t explain why I did it, but I reached for the doorknob and turned. It yawned open, revealing an eerily dark and stagnant hallway beyond.

No sound. No sign of life.

“Hello?”

No reply. Not even an echo. It was like the house took my words and swallowed them.

“Mordecai?”