Chapter 16: Quiet

Ansel's POV

The apartment was quiet in a way I had forgotten it could be.

I stood in the hall at six in the evening and listened to the refrigerator.

For two months there had been a second voice in my head, and now there was only mine.

It was louder than I remembered, and much less interesting.

The tape from his note was still on the doorknob, where she had pulled the bag away.

I left it there.

I made soup, because it gave my hands a job, and I ate it standing at the counter with the oven light on.

Every few minutes I reached for her out of habit.

There was nothing there.

Her text from the diner was still open on my phone.

Melody says he'll fake a heart attack at the gala.

I had written back, He's done it since we were fourteen, and I'll be the one who checks his pulse.

I had expected it to feel like peace.

It felt like being the only doctor on a ward at night, with nobody left to tell me whether I'd done it right.

At nine the buzzer went, and the doorman said, "Mr. Collier is on his way up, sir."

"Did I say he could?"

"He said you'd say yes."

"Of course he did."

Barrett came in without knocking, holding a small velvet box in both hands.

He was in a navy blazer and white sneakers, and he was smiling.

"I come in peace," he said. "And with a boat."

"I don't want a boat."

"You haven't seen her."

He opened the box.

Inside, on a bed of satin, lay a brass key with a ribbon tied through the ring.

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