He reached for his phone.

I knew the exact moment he tried my old number. His lips moved. He stared at the screen. Dialed again. Then a third time.

Nothing.

The safety net no longer had a ringtone.

By that evening, they’d tried to check into a luxury hotel downtown and been turned away when their cards failed. They ended up in a roadside motel near the interstate.

I knew, because Trevor called Valerie’s office at eight the next morning. He began loudly. Then even louder. He insisted the sale was invalid, the trust illegal, the storage arrangement cruel, and the disconnected number proof that someone had manipulated me.