“Move, Daniel.”

He did.

PART 3: A Door I Could Open

Officer Porter sat with me at the small patio table while Marcus waited near the steps.

I told her what had happened the previous afternoon, from the first request about Sloan’s cigarette to Daniel’s hand striking my cheek.

I showed her the photograph I’d taken at dawn.

Then I explained how difficult it had become to breathe in the house.

She didn’t promise an arrest.