Chapter 4

On the fifteenth day of the waiting period, I changed my number.

Only Susan and my parents had the new one.

The moment the old phone went dead for lack of credit, the screen darkened like a door swinging shut. Neat and done.

Susan told me later he'd called twenty-three times that day, each greeted by the hollow tone of a disconnected line.

He showed up at Susan's office and camped out at the front desk.

"Susan, where's Claire?" he demanded.

Susan sat behind her desk, not even bothering to look up.

"Who? Never heard of her," she replied.

"Come…