“Lily!”

The house answered with silence.

Then the smell hit me. Sweet. Chemical. Heavy in the warm kitchen air. Like cough syrup spilled over plastic and left too long.

The kitchen light buzzed overhead. The sink was full of dishes. A paper coffee cup sat near the counter, lid still snapped on, a brown ring dried around the mouthpiece.

Brian’s keys lay beside it.

That was wrong. Brian never left his keys behind.