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After getting Sara all settled on her couch with a large glass of iced tea and her remote for the TV, I make my way back to my neighborhood, happy to be done with my experiment with running. Now I know I’m not an athlete.

Not that I didn’t grasp that before this, but now it’s for sure.

As I approach my house, Aaron walks out his front door and stops dead when he sees me. What is with this guy? I get the whole mourning widower act, but why does he have to behave like he’s a man possessed?

I give him a slight nod to be polite and hurry up my sidewalk to my front door, hoping to avoid any conversation with him today. I’m aching from head to toe. The last thing I need this morning is some creepy chat with my weird next-door-neighbor.

Unfortunately, I’m not fast enough, and he catches up to me just as I jam my key into the doorknob. I sense him standing behind me, so I turn my head and force a smile, hoping that will be enough.

But, of course, it isn’t.

“Do you run fast?” he asks, surprising me with a not-so-odd question right out of the gate.

I shrug, happy to admit I barely run at all. “Not really. I’m more of a jogger.”

“What about your partner? She’s a more experienced runner, isn’t she?”

Struck by how he could know who I’ve been running with since the guy rarely leaves his home, I shake my head in confusion. “Did you see us this morning? We didn’t see you.”

For the first time, Aaron smiles. “I see everything. The position of my house at the end of the cul-de-sac gives me the perfect view of not only this street but the others around it.”

“Interesting. Well, she may be more experienced, but right now, she’s laid up on her couch with a pretty bad sprain after tripping over a tree branch someone left in the road over at Meadow.”

Happy this conversation hasn’t turned out to be like our last one the other night, I flash Aaron a smile and say, “Well, I better get in there and get to work.”

As I make a move to turn the doorknob and walk inside, he says, “Good idea. It’s going to be hot out today. Beware the dog days of summer. They say heat like this can drive someone mad and make them do heinous things. Be careful.”

And just like that, my conversation with Aaron goes from benign nothingness to something that sounds almost like a threat. I study his expression for a long moment and see that crazy look in his eyes again, so I nod and hurry inside, needing to get away from him before he starts in with that God sees everything nonsense again.

I slam my front door shut and press my back against it, relieved to be away from him. Why doesn’t someone in his family come get him and take him away? The guy is clearly going insane. You’d think those in-laws would do something. They obviously know he’s not okay since they took their grandchildren away from him.

Well, he’s not my problem. Whatever happens to him is his concern, not mine.

As I shower off from my run, I can’t help but wonder if he bothers anyone else in the neighborhood, or if I’m the only one blessed by his visits. If anyone could use his lectures on God seeing all our misdeeds, it’s Jared, that cheating bastard. Two side chicks? That man could use some Jesus.

By the time I sit down at my desk to get some work in before tonight’s big plans, I’m convinced someone from Aaron’s family needs to come get him before he heads down to the hardware store and buys some rope like Sara said Caroline did the other day. The guy is not right. That’s for sure.

And what’s with Caroline and that rope?

Perhaps Sara didn’t see things correctly. That could be true. The only problem with that is she described the rope as if she saw exactly the kind Caroline bought, along with those eye hooks.

I search for them, curious to know what they’re used for, and find exactly what Sara mentioned. Used for hanging heavy items from ceilings, large eye hooks can handle up to two hundred pounds.

That’s a pretty big person. I’m just under one eighty, and I’m sure Caroline’s no more than one thirty. What on earth did she need eye hooks for?

She becomes curiouser and curiouser the more I learn about her. I think after tonight, I’m going to go back to focusing on her. I need to figure that woman out.

I spend the day diligently attending to my work, needing to make sure my companies know they can depend on me after that minor slip up. I can’t let that happen again. The last thing I want to have to do is go out and find another job that will force me to work in an office building. Those places are stifling on the best days, and whenever I have to visit one of the companies I do work for, I always want to run from the building screaming before long.

No, I definitely need to stay as a consultant working right here from the cozy confines of my own home on Park Circle.

By eight o’clock, the sun is all but gone from the sky. When I peek out from behind my living room curtains, I see no one out on the street tonight. Glancing at my phone, I see the likely reason why. Still eighty-five degrees, it’s far too hot to be outside.

I have plans tonight, though, so I have no choice but to head out into the heat. I walk through my house to the back door in the kitchen and look out at the yard that butts up against nothing but undeveloped land. The realtor swore no one would be building back there for a long time, but I suspect that was a lie.

Tonight, though, it’s simply flat land with trees that will provide me cover as I sneak over to Sara’s street. I’ve walked this route a few times since I moved in, and I’m surprised at how hidden it actually is. Maybe if that idiot Jared had used this way to get to his girlfriend’s house, nobody would have known.

Then again, inviting her to the block party didn’t help either. Jesus, he’s stupid. You’d swear he doesn’t know people are watching at all times in this neighborhood. It’s suburbia, for Christ’s sake. What else is there to do than spy on your neighbors?

I quietly walk out my back door and make my way through the darkness of the path over to Sara’s neighborhood. This shortcut comes out on the side of the only house on her street that’s vacant. No one has lived in it for as long as I’ve been around, so the yard is a perfect place to hide out until I know I can sneak into her house without being seen.

After today’s heat, tonight doesn’t bring much relief. The humidity hasn’t broken, so haze hangs in the air, giving everything a spooky feeling. I stay pressed against the side of the empty house staring across the street at Sara’s front window.

Much like Park Circle, her road is quiet at night. I watch her front window for nearly twenty minutes and don’t see a single car ride up or down the street. The sound of a dog barking in the distance breaks the silence every so often, but the entire time I see no sign of anyone, human or animal, while I wait.

Right after eight-thirty, I step out from the shadows of the vacant home and casually walk out onto the sidewalk. I quickly scan the area for anyone nearby, but there’s nobody.

I’m all alone.

Staying away from the streetlights, I walk over to Sara’s side of the street and duck into her backyard. A vegetable garden spans nearly the entire space, surprising me. I guess since she’s into running that I shouldn’t be shocked she’s growing healthy food to help her stay fit, but I didn’t expect she’d be a gardener.

I’m careful to not step on any of the plants as I tiptoe up to her back door. Looking in, I see her sitting on the couch where I left her hours ago after I helped her home. I scan the room and begin to turn the doorknob to walk in as suddenly Jared appears from the hallway.

What’s he doing here? She said they had a huge fight, and she was done with him. Typical woman. He’s cheating on her while he’s cheating on his wife, and still Sara gives him another chance.

I watch in disgust as he crouches down on one knee in front of the couch like he’s some knight in shining armor come to rescue her. Ten to one he’s stripping his clothes off in less than five minutes and they’re having sex, even with her busted up ankle.

To think I was having second thoughts about what I plan to do tonight. Now she deserves it even more. Foolish woman.

As I wait to see if my prediction comes true, they start yelling at each other. His face turns bright red as he bends down to bellow at her, and then I see her sit up and angrily jab her finger toward his face. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but it’s obvious they’re both upset.

After a minute, she falls silent, but Jared continues to yell at her. I watch as he grows more and more furious, his eyes filled with rage. I wish I could hear what he’s saying, but I’m willing to bet it has to do with her insisting he give up his second side chick.

When he finally stops barking at her, he stands up to his full height and shakes his head. So much for that couple. I expect him to storm out, but then as I watch, he balls his hand up into a fist and cocks his arm back.

It all happens in what feels like slow motion, but when he brings his hand down, it hits her face hard. She flies back against the couch, her hands frantically trying to defend her as they cover her head, but he’s like a man possessed. He hits her again, this time connecting with her nose, and blood spurts everywhere. It’s like a gusher, but that doesn’t stop him either.

I’ve never seen anyone hit another person like this, and I stand watching it frozen in place. Over and over, he punches her until he finally steps back, nearly falling over the coffee table behind him. His hand and arm are covered in blood, as is his green T-shirt.

For a moment, he stares down at her as she lies there on the couch motionless, and then he shakes his head with a look of disgust before walking out of the room. I stand on my toes to get a good look at Sara, and I know from the moment I see her that she’s dead.

Jesus Christ! He killed her. And I’m a witness.

I need to get the hell away from here, so I run back through her yard, not as careful this time and stepping all over her lettuce plants. When I reach the street, I quickly look to see if anyone’s around, but like before, the street is deserted. I bolt over to the vacant house’s yard and tear along the dark path to reach my house in a matter of seconds, desperate to be back in my home.

Slamming my back door behind me, I rush inside and wash my hands. I don’t know why because I didn’t touch anything, but after seeing Jared covered in blood, I feel dirty.

Good God! I saw him kill her. Did he see me? I think about that for a few seconds and then decide he couldn’t have. I was hidden, and the only time he could have noticed me was when I was running away, but he was somewhere else in the house.

My hands shake uncontrollably as I replay the scene over and over in my head while I pace through my house. He beat her to death. There’s no way he’ll get away with that. Even if his DNA isn’t all over that house, which I’m sure it is since they’ve been sleeping together, he’s covered in hers. That much blood doesn’t disappear easily. That’s why I would never bludgeon someone to death. Too messy. Better to strangle a person and be done with it.

The memory of the moment he slammed his fist into her face the first time fills my head, forcing every other thought out. He killed her. He beat her to death with his own hands.

I walk over to my front window and pull back the curtains just enough that I can look out. There’s not a soul on the street tonight. I crane my neck to look down at Suzanne and Jared’s house, curious to know if he went there afterward, but the place is dark. She’s probably still at work, so he could wash up without her knowing.

The cops will find Sara by tomorrow. Someone will miss her and call them to say she’s missing.

Then a thought stops me cold, and I step back from the window in pure terror. I’d be the person who would see her next on our run tomorrow morning. We’ve only gotten together to exercise for two mornings straight, but people have seen us. I can’t suddenly stop now.

But she got hurt yesterday so it’s okay.

I rub my hands together nervously. The last thing I need is the police in my business. Maybe I can lie and say she told me she was planning on going away for a few days.

No, that won’t work. There has to be at least one person who saw me help her back to her house.

Fuck! That means my DNA is there too. Not as much as Jared’s, but it’ll be there since I wasn’t trying to be careful this morning.

I shake my head at my sloppiness. I knew what I planned to do to her tonight and didn’t even try to hide my presence at Sara’s house. If I had actually gone through with what I intended to do to her, the cops would have figured out it was me in a heartbeat.

Then again, with all of Jared’s hair and God only knows what else lying around that house, they may have logically assumed he could be the killer. I can only hope that’s what happens now.

You need to be more careful, Adam. This neighborhood isn’t like the one you grew up in or Tess’s. People talk here. A grown man living alone who suddenly turns out to be the last person who saw a murder victim alive? You’ll be lucky if the police don’t haul you down to the station for this and lock you up.

Fucking Jared! What the hell could she have said that would make him want to kill her? The guy isn’t a murderer. Well, now he is, but he wasn’t before. I’d stake everything I own on that fact. I know when someone’s like me. There are telltale signs, and he didn’t exhibit a single one of them before tonight.

She probably threatened to tell his other mistress all of what was going on. If only she hadn’t sprained her ankle on our run this morning, she would have been strong enough to fight him off or at least run away.

Stupid woman.