Chapter 5 - The Message at 5:42
Damian entered the house at four thirty carrying two bottles of wine.
He immediately noticed Ava’s face.
The bruising had darkened.
“What did you do to it?” he demanded.
Ava stared at him.
“You know what happened.”
“I mean the makeup. Why haven’t you covered it?”
“I tried.”
“Try again.”
Damian placed the wine on the counter and inspected the dining room. He criticized the flowers, changed the plates, and moved Raymond’s chair twice.
Ava returned upstairs.
Her hidden bag remained behind the laundry room cabinet. Her documents were inside it, along with clothes, medicine, cash, and an old photograph of her mother.
She planned to retrieve it at five fifty-five.
At five twenty, Damian entered the bedroom while she was applying concealer.
He stood behind her, watching through the mirror.
“Mr. Sterling cannot see you like this.”
“Then cancel dinner.”
Damian’s jaw tightened.
“Do you have any idea what tonight could mean for me?”
Ava lowered the makeup sponge.
“What did yesterday mean for me?”
“Not now.”
“There is never a time you want to talk about it.”
Damian placed both hands on the dresser.
“I said I was sorry.”
“No. You said I caused it.”
“You kept provoking me.”
Ava turned.
“Thank you.”
Damian frowned.
“For what?”
“For saying it clearly.”
She had activated the voice recorder on her phone before he entered.
The phone rested face down beside a lamp.
Damian did not notice.
At five thirty-five, he discovered that Ava had moved money from their joint account.
It was not much. Only enough for several weeks in a hotel, but the transfer confirmed his worst fear.
“You’re planning to leave.”
Ava said nothing.
He grabbed her phone from the dresser.
The recording app disappeared beneath his thumb before he saw it, but he began searching her messages.
Ava’s conversation with Raymond was protected inside a separate application. The ordinary message list contained only harmless exchanges.
Damian found Leah’s name.
He opened the thread and read the last message.
I’ll be close. Walk out when you’re ready.
Damian looked at Ava.
“Who is waiting outside?”
“No one.”
He checked the windows.
Leah’s car was parked around the corner, out of sight.
Damian locked the front door and placed Ava’s phone in his pocket.
“You are not going anywhere tonight.”
Ava glanced at the clock.
Five forty-one.
Raymond would arrive in nineteen minutes.
The officers were nearby, but Ava had been instructed to send a specific message if the plan changed.
She no longer had her phone.
Damian stepped closer.
“When Mr. Sterling arrives, you will smile. You will serve dinner. You will tell him how supportive I have been.”
Ava kept her voice steady.
“And after dinner?”
“We’ll discuss your behavior.”
He walked toward the kitchen.
Ava looked at the smart home panel near the hallway. Damian used it to control the lights, security system, and front door camera.
The panel also displayed notifications from connected devices.
Ava had once connected an old tablet to the system for recipes. Damian believed the tablet was broken, but Ava had charged it and hidden it inside a drawer.
While Damian opened the wine, she moved toward the kitchen island.
“I need the serving tray,” she said.
He barely looked at her.
Ava opened the drawer, reached beneath a stack of towels, and touched the tablet.
She had less than a minute.
May you like
At five forty-two, Raymond received a message containing three words.
Plan changed. Hurry.
