{"id":22411,"date":"2025-12-04T21:24:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=22411"},"modified":"2025-12-04T21:24:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:24:25","slug":"22411","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/readmore.cx\/?p=22411","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0<\/span>click<\/span>\u00a0of the deadbolt echoed like a gunshot in the silent bedroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJosephine! What are you doing?\u201d Caroline\u2019s voice came through the wood, high and shrill with panic. \u201cLet us out!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStay in there and think about what you\u2019ve done,\u201d I said to the door, my voice devoid of emotion. \u201cI have some calls to make.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I walked over to the nightstand. My hands were shaking now, not from fear, but from an adrenaline overdose. I picked up my phone. I didn\u2019t call the police. I didn\u2019t call my mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

I scrolled to a number I had dialed for neighborhood potlucks and borrow-a-cup-of-sugar requests.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lincoln Collins.<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Caroline\u2019s husband.<\/span><\/p>\n

He answered on the second ring, the background noise of machinery humming behind him. \u201cHey, Josephine. Everything okay?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHello, Lincoln,\u201d I said, leaning against the wall for support. \u201cI need you to come to my house. Immediately.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIs everyone okay? Is it Caroline?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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The\u00a0click\u00a0of the deadbolt echoed like a gunshot in the silent bedroom. \u201cJosephine! What are you doing?\u201d Caroline\u2019s voice came through the wood, high and shrill with panic. \u201cLet us out!\u201d \u201cStay in there and think about what you\u2019ve done,\u201d I said to the door, my voice devoid of emotion. \u201cI have some calls to make.\u201d…<\/p>\n

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