Page 57 of Circle of Strangers
Exhaustion laces his deep blue eyes. “Sozi told me about a string of break-ins down the street.”
I narrow my eyes. When did he talk to Sozi? And why would she tell him before she told me? I keep my questions to myself for now.
“Break-ins?” I ask. “In a gated community?”
“Yeah, I know.” He leans against the side of his car, folding his arms. “Apparently, the police think it’s some teenage kid who lives around here doing it for kicks. Seems isolated to the next street over.”
The weight of suspicion presses deep into my chest. “And you felt the need to relay that message to the Morenos? Personally?”
Will gifts me a calm smile, as if to overcompensate for my reaction. “I wanted to see if their security cameras have been working. Ours have been spotty lately—cutting out at weird times. Thought maybe it was an issue with our internet provider, but they said theirs are working fine. No internet issues either. Anyway, I plan on calling the security company first thing tomorrow, have someone come out and maybe replace a few. They’re a little dated. Better safe than sorry.”
“Since when have our security cameras not been working?”
“You haven’t noticed they’ve been glitchy?”
I ignore his question. “How often have you been checking them? And why?”
He gives me a soft smile. “I told you, we’re a team. Just doing my part to keep our family safe.”
“Safe from what? From the woman you’ve been secretly communicating with behind my back? Make it make sense.”
His smile fades, then his jaw tightens, a flicker of annoyance flashing in his eyes. “I really think you’re making this into something bigger than it is.”
“I don’t think I am,” I snap once more. “And how many times are you going to find random excuses to talk to the Morenos? After everything we’ve discussed? You say you want to fix our marriage—kind of seems like you’re doing the opposite.”
“Like it or not, the Morenos are our next-door neighbors.” He shakes his head, exasperated. “We don’t have to be friends with them, but we can’t just act like they’re invisible.”
His voice is measured, but I catch the flicker of something beneath it—lingering in the space between us.
I stare, waiting for him to say more, to offer something that will make sense of this—of the cameras, the conversations, the way he continues to slip through my grasp. But he just stands before me, unruffled and composed, as if everything and everyone is perfectly reasonable—except for me.
“I’m sorry this upset you, but we need to stay safe,” he says again, softer this time. “That’s all I’m trying to do, Camille. Keep us safe.”
I fold my arms. “Is your mother planning to pay us a visit?”
His lips part, as if he’s going to say something, then thinks better of it. Shaking his head, he finally says, “No. She’s not. She knows she’s not welcome here.”
“Then remind me, who are you protecting us from?”
His eyes hold mine for several seconds before his mouth forms a flat line.
He walks off, leaving my question unanswered.
45
“So, I talked to Mara yesterday,” Sozi says the following morning, blowing gently on the surface of her coffee, her smartwatch sliding down her wrist. She’s been looking a little gaunt lately. Stress?
We’re standing at the edge of my driveway, the desert sun high overhead, casting long shadows across the cul-de-sac pavement the way it always does this time of day. The breeze is warm, and the air smells faintly of citrus from a tree in the Morenos’ yard. We’ve yet to start our walk and I’m not sure we will at this point. Her sneakers seem firmly planted.
“Oh, yeah?” I’m all ears, though every word she says feels like another thread in the knot pulling tighter inside me. “What’d she have to say?”
Sozi glances toward the Morenos’ house, her eyes lingering there a little too long. “She couldn’t stop talking about how lucky you are to have Will. Kept going on and on about it.”
My heart skips. “Lucky?”
Sozi nods, her gaze still pinned to Mara’s house.
“Yeah. That’s the word she used. She said you and Will seem really happy.” She pauses, turning toward me, a knowing smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I think she’s projecting. She seems miserable with Oscar, even after everything.”
