Page 41 of He Sees You
Just an old skeleton key that could open any lock, or none.
Let her wonder what doors I'm offering to open. Let her imagination do the work for now.
Around one in the morning, I make my way back through the woods to the Sterling house.
Jake's patrol car is still there, parked where he can see her window.
He's slumped in the driver's seat, but I can see the glow of his phone.
Taking pictures? Texting someone about her?
I circle wider, coming up from behind the house.
Her window is cracked open despite the cold—she likes fresh air when she writes.
The gifts slip through easily, landing silently on her desk.
As I'm withdrawing, I hear it—Jake's car door opening.
Footsteps crunching through snow toward the house.
I freeze, watching as he approaches the back door.
He tries the handle.
Locked.
He moves to the cellar doors, tests those too.
He’s looking for a way in that won't trigger the alarm.
He pulls out his phone, shining the flashlight through the cellar window.
Then he does something that makes my blood turn to ice—he takes out a small notebook and sketches the lock mechanism.
He's planning. Preparing.
He finally gives up, returning to his car, but not before looking up at Celeste's window with such naked hunger that my hands clench into fists.
Tomorrow, Sterling will ask Jake to watch the house again.
Jake will volunteer eagerly.
And eventually, inevitably, he'll find a way inside.
Men like Jake always do.
They believe their desires are permission.
Unless someone stops them.
CHAPTER SIX
Celeste
The photograph is of me, but I don't remember it being taken.
I'm at my window, staring out at nothing, or maybe everything.
