CHAPTER 10

I wandered to the front door, trudging through dead leaves. The knocker looked like Stevie, I realized. Stevie’s narrow face and wide eyes, Stevie’s mouth.

I took several photos to send to him and Nisa. The veranda’s ceiling blocked the thin light filtering through the trees, so I was surprised to see that the pictures were all overlit. I shot a few more from a different angle, but every time it was the same. The knocker’s cast-iron face glowed white, making it difficult to pick out any details.

I edited the best photo, adding shadows and contrast, so you could tell that it looked like Stevie, kind of. Yet whenever I tried to save the edits, the photo reverted to the original. Frustrated, I returned to the car, got inside, and texted the photo to Nisa.

On my way. Look who I found

The wind had kicked up, though the sky remained a cloudless, searing blue. As I eased the car down the driveway, my phone pinged: Nisa.

Where are you??? what is that a picture of! I’m starving

I’m bringing croissants!

And coffee

They’ll be sold out

Not this early.

They sell out by 10

Yeah but it’s only—

I glanced at the time. 10:17.

What the hell? I checked the dashboard clock: 10:17.

Last time I’d looked, it had been 6:30. Was the clock broken?

But why would both my phone and the car clock show the same wrong time? It was impossible that more than three hours had passed—I’d left the Airbnb around six.

The phone pinged again.

Whatever just come back I’m starved

Sorry, lost track!

See you soon, love you

I looked into the rearview mirror as I drove off. Sunlight now flooded the veranda and upper stories, turning the windows to gold. Only the front door remained in twilight, the knocker now a black smear, its face lost to shadow.