Need it to happen tomorrow. No mess at apartment. Cabin cleaner.
Use the pendant if she resists.
I stopped breathing.
This wasn’t a possibility.
It was a scheduled event.
The next day, my sister and my cousin Marcus Reed—who used to work in fraud investigations—met me.
We went to the police.
Detective Rachel Hayes listened.
Really listened.
They couldn’t arrest him yet. But they could prepare.
That night, Daniel made the offer.
“A cabin,” he said. “Just us. Fresh start.”
Exactly like the message.
I agreed.
The drive was quiet. Dark roads. Empty land stretching endlessly.
The cabin wasn’t by the lake like he said.
It was isolated.
Too isolated.
Inside, I saw everything.
Bleach smell.
Tarp.
New lock.
Unlabeled vial.
This wasn’t romantic.
It was prepared.
When I confronted him, something broke in him.
“You were supposed to make life easier,” he said.
Not love.
Not partnership.
Convenience.
I stepped back. “I’m leaving.”
“No,” he said.
Then he grabbed me.
Hard.
I twisted, shouted the signal phrase—
“I forgot my allergy pills in the car!”
The door burst open.
Police.
Shouting.
Movement.
And suddenly—
It was over.
Daniel was arrested.
The cabin told the rest of the story. Chemicals. Tools. Messages. Plans.
And R?
Rebecca Collins.