By the time Marissa turned onto Ridge Hollow Lane that Thursday afternoon, her biggest concern was whether the avocados were ripe enough.
The office had closed early after the company server crashed, so she stopped by the market on her way home. Caleb liked guacamole on Thursdays. It was such a small, ordinary married thought that later, it almost hurt to remember.
She bought avocados, limes, cilantro, and the expensive tortilla chips Caleb always complained were too salty but somehow finished before dinner. The grocery bag was heavy, and the twisted paper handle dug into her fingers as she walked up the driveway.
From the front, nothing looked wrong.
The sprinklers clicked over the grass. The upstairs curtains were half open. Caleb’s new truck sat in the driveway, shining like a prize he had insisted he deserved after a hard quarter at work. Marissa had argued about the cost, but Caleb had kissed her forehead and told her she worried beautifully.
That was one of his tricks.
He made condescension sound like love.
Ridge Hollow was the kind of neighborhood where people pretended tall fences meant privacy. In truth, everyone noticed everything. They knew who bought a new car, whose dog barked, and who visited whose house too often.
Vanessa from number 218 had been one of those familiar faces.
At first, Marissa had liked her. Vanessa remembered birthdays, brought banana bread when Marissa was sick, watered her basil once, and dropped by with easy smiles and harmless excuses. She borrowed sugar even though she hosted perfect dinner parties. She knew the gate code because Marissa had given it to her herself.
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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