“Liked what?”

“You didn’t make me tell.”

I had spent months learning how to protect her physically.

I was beginning to understand how much it mattered to protect her story, too.

PART 22

Warren’s fence had always been plain cedar boards, weathered gray and repaired in places with mismatched nails.

The security camera mounted above his side door remained, though I hardly noticed it anymore when I walked past.

One afternoon he called me over to show me something.