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neighborhood. That wasn’t something that happened every day. Since I wanted to remain anonymous, I couldn’t just come out and ask anyone about it.
    As Lisa had done for me earlier, I briefed my replacement on the few remaining customers’ orders before retrieving my purse from my locker and exiting the front door. I was just about to cross the intersection when Justin’s blue Malibu pulled up.
    “Get in!” he yelled. He reached over and pushed the passenger door open.
    “What are you doing here?” I asked. My plans to stroll down the street had suddenly been quashed.
    My disappointment at his unexpected appearance must have been evident. “I was hoping you’d be glad to see me,” he said.
    I forced a smile. “I am,” I lied. “I’m just surprised.” I folded myself into the small car and pulled the door closed. “I figured you’d be sleeping in every chance you got until school starts.”
    Justin laughed and put the car into gear. “You’re right about that,” he said, turning the car around. “But who could sleep with all the excitement this morning?”
    My mouth dropped at his remark. “What excitement?”
    He shrugged a shoulder. “Well, it actually turned out to be nothing. Just that some practical joker made a crank call to the police this morning about a woman being in trouble at a house on Benton Street.”
    My pulse quickened. I swallowed hard. “What happened?” I asked. “What did the police find when they got there?”
    Another shrug. “Nothing.”
    My breath caught. I couldn’t believe my ears. “What do you mean they didn’t find anything?” How could that be? I wondered. I was there. There was a dead woman in that house this morning.
    Justin didn’t appear surprised by my strange questions. He pulled the car into my driveway and shut off the engine. He turned to face me, his eyes full of amusement. “I mean just what I said. They didn’t find anything. They even questioned some of the neighbors. And this is the really strange part,” he added with a trace of laughter in his voice. “According to the neighbors, the guy that lives there left on a business trip last night. And his wife has been dead for ten years.”

Chapter Three
    The blood drained from my face. My body numbed from the shock of Justin’s words. There had to be some mistake! How could the police have found nothing at Michael Black’s house this morning? I was there! I had witnessed a woman’s lifeless body slide onto the living room floor in a crumpled heap.
    It didn’t make sense.
    Despite the warmth of the day, a shiver shook my body. If Michael Black’s wife had died ten years earlier, then who did I see at that house?
    Something was terribly wrong. But what could I do? How could I explain a missing corpse?
    Justin’s deep blue eyes squinted against the bright sun. With one hand on the steering wheel, he reached over with the other and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
    “Are you okay?” he asked. He arched an eyebrow. “You’re unusually quiet.”
    I forced a smile, unsure how to respond. I hadn’t planned on telling anyone about what I’d seen this morning. The police were supposed to take care of everything. But something was horribly wrong.
    “I’m okay,” I finally managed to say. “I guess things just got off on the wrong foot this morning.”
    What an understatement, I told myself. In my mind, I kept reliving the scene from this morning. I had seen a woman’s body slither from a chair to the floor. Nausea threatened to erupt. I swallowed hard to gain control of the situation.
    What is going on? I silently screamed.
    Justin killed the engine, then leaned back against the seat, turning toward me. His probing eyes studied me with curious intensity.
    “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked again. “You look a little pale. Maybe the picnic we had planned for today isn’t such a good idea.”
    In all the commotion, I’d completely forgotten about the plans we’d made