Chapter 4

The drive to West Hartford felt like descending into a different reality. I'd rented an unremarkable gray Camry from Enterprise, paying cash and using my maiden name—precautions that felt both paranoid and necessary. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles had gone white, matching the October sky that pressed down like a heavy blanket.

Maple Grove Lane was exactly what the satellite images had promised: a picture-perfect suburban street where American dreams came to nest. Colonial houses sat back from the road behind neat lawns, their windows glowing with warm light that spoke of family dinners…