Chapter 4

The former owner was sleeping like a baby when his wife smacked him awake.

"Wake up! We've got a problem!"

"She's replacing the closets in both bedrooms!"

He bolted upright.

Threw himself at the peephole and looked down.

I was holding up my phone, going back and forth with my best friend about styles.

"This European one's nice. But the minimalist one's good too."

"Let's go check them out in person tomorrow."

His face went green. He dropped his voice and swore.

"Is there something wrong with her?"

"What's the point of changing perfectly good closets?"

"We had them built in exactly so nobody would go poking around!"

His wife panicked.

"So what do we do now?"

The elder son, though, stayed calm.

"Easy. Tomorrow when she's out, we wall over the side with the hidden door."

"Once she's swapped the closets, we break it back open."

"Nobody will ever know."

The younger son sounded uneasy.

"Will that work? What if we get caught?"

The elder son shot him a look.

"With a brain like hers, what's she going to catch?"

The former owner thought it over for a long moment, then nodded.

"Looks like it's the only way."

"That door's too obvious. If she finds it, we're all finished."

Listening to the four rats sit there and plot against me right under my feet,

I nearly laughed out loud more than once, and swallowed it back every time.

The younger son suddenly lowered his voice.

"Dad, if you ask me, we should just end it for good."

"Wait till she's asleep, kill her, dump the body in the attic."

"Then wall it up. Who'd ever know?"

"She lives alone anyway, barely talks to her family."

"She could be dead and no one would notice."

His mother swung out and hit him.

"Have you lost your mind?!"

But the former owner said nothing. He was silent for several seconds.

"It's not out of the question."

His tone was perfectly calm.

I held my water glass and kept watching TV without a flicker.

Pretending I'd heard none of it.

They wanted to kill me?

Fine.

Then let's see who ends up dead first.

I didn't sleep that night.

Just sat on the living room sofa watching TV.

One show after another, straight through till morning.

Upstairs, the four of them waited for me to fall asleep.

Deep into the night, they couldn't hold out any longer.

"Is she not sleeping at all tonight?"

"Damn it. She goes to bed early every night, and tonight of all nights she stays up."

By five in the morning, they finally gave up.

At first light I washed up and headed out.

Took a cab straight to my best friend's place.

The former owner watched me leave through the peephole.

He turned at once to the elder son. "Hurry, go buy cement!"

They mixed it all up and hauled the bricks in.

He worked the wall from the outside.

His wife and sons passed him what he needed from inside the attic.

They kept at it all morning.

The wall was sealed up tight.

"I'll head out first. Once she's done with the closets I'll come back and knock it open."

"You three stay put in there and behave."

The former owner cleaned up again, picked up his tools, and left.

I sat on my best friend's sofa.

Watching the camera feed on my phone.

Up in the attic, the three of them leaned against the freshly sealed wall, panting.

A hundred degrees out, and only the one fan.

And the garbage they'd been too lazy to take out, piled all over the attic.

When I saw the former owner walk out the building door,

the corners of my mouth lifted. I knew the moment had come.

My best friend brought over a cup of coffee.

"You're really replacing the closets?"

"I thought about it all night. I've decided not to after all."

She said I was crazy.

I didn't explain. I stepped outside and called a locksmith.

"Hi, I need my locks changed."

"Yes, a security door. Right now."

I got there just about the same time as the guy.

Watched him swap out the cylinder, took the new keys in hand, and only then relaxed.

I set down my bag and called my best friend, smiling.

"Honey, I've already quit my job."

"I'm planning to take it easy at home for six months."