Page 86 of Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind

“Ah-ha!” Heidi says, and for a second I think she’s reacting to my camera discovery. But when I turn around, she’s not even looking at me; her gaze is instead on the large book she has open in her arms.

It’s a Bible, I realize. And Heidi is looking at it like she’s just been reborn.

“Look at this,” she breathes, reaching into the open pages and pulling something out. “This is something,” she says. “It has to be, right? Look at that.” She holds up what looks to be a standard four-by-six photo.

I abandon the closet and move quickly to Heidi, my eyes focused on the picture. “Whoa,” I say when I realize what it is I’m looking at. “Warn a guy, please.”

It’s a man and a woman in an intimate embrace, minimally clothed. The man’s face is tilted toward the camera, so he’s easy enough to see, but the woman is only visible in profile. She looks younger than him, but it’s hard to tell by how much.

“Clearly taken through a window,” I say, peering more closely at the photo, “and definitely…explicit enough.”

“I don’t know who this is, though,” Heidi says with a frown. She flips the photo over, but there’s nothing written on the back. “It looks recent-ish, right? Like, it’s not decades old or anything.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It looks modern.”

“Hey, sorry,” comes a voice from behind us, and Heidi and I both jump. We turn around at the same time, just as Phil walks back into the room. “That took longer than I thought it would.” He stands there with his hands on his hips, looking around. “Find anything good?”

Like we’re on a treasure hunt. So bizarre.

“Uh, maybe,” Heidi says, shooting me a hesitant look.

I shrug. I don’t think we can hide the photo from Phil, and I don’t know that there’s any reason to try. The man in the picture isn’t him.

Heidi holds the photo out to Phil, and he steps forward, taking it. He flinches as he looks at it, but then his eyes widen.

Somewhere down in my chest, my heart picks up speed.

“This…” he says slowly, trailing off. He looks up at us, and then back down at the photo. “This is Stanley Riggs.”

Next to me, Heidi’s jaw drops, as I hunt around for why that name sounds familiar—until it hits me.

“The HOA guy?” I say incredulously.

“He’s the head of the HOA in Maplewood, yeah,” Phil says, his attention back on the picture.

“And…is that Mrs. Riggs?” Heidi says, her voice hoarse.

Phil grimaces once more, running one hand through his slicked-back hair. “Considering Mrs. Riggs is brunette and rather large…it most definitely isnot.”

21

FROM THE LIFE OF CARMINA HILDEGARDE

JANUARY 19

Carmina practically cackled as she peered through the viewfinder of her camera. It was an unladylike sound, but since she so rarely had cause to laugh these days, she allowed it. She zoomed in further, letting the scene before her come into focus.

That dirty old man.

She hadn’t meant to stumble across this particular show. But a woman had to have hobbies or she’d go mad, and although mundanity bored her, she often found entertainment peeking into other peoples’ lives. Stanley Riggs had the nerve to chastise Carmina for not keeping the peace, when he was off cavorting with some wanton hussy—with her in the very bed he shared with his wife. Patrice Riggs was elegant and dignified and on the board of several respectable charities, including one that helped house battered women and children. This was the respect Stanley gave her? This was what Patrice got for raising their three children and cooking him dinner every night?

No. Carmina simply couldn’t allow that to go unpunished. She began snapping photos, a slew of them, and her laughter only grew louder as she imagined all the fun she could have with them.

She would see justice done. Stanley Riggs would pay. She’d just have to be very, very careful…

22

IN WHICH HEIDI MAKES AN UNFORTUNATE DISCOVER

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