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The chicken salad stuffed tomatoes turned out better than I hoped they would. It’s been so hot lately that I haven’t wanted to cook at all during this heat wave, but since I invited Adam here tonight, I thought I needed to do something more than set out a bag of chips or pretzels and say, “Have at it.”

Not really the kind of thing a proper hostess should do. My mother would be rolling over in her grave if I did that.

“I’ve never had anything like that,” Adam says with an appreciative smile as if he truly enjoyed my simple meal. “It’s perfect for a hot day like today.”

I stare across the dining room table at him as I nod and force myself to smile. Pretending to be some kind neighbor has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I slipped a few times in the beginning right after I first moved here once I found out where he lived. My mother used to say I never had an emotion that didn’t cross my face, but those first couple of times seeing him in person made pretending impossible.

He looks very much the same as he did all those years ago. The moment I laid eyes on him that terrible day fifteen years ago came rushing back to me. Not that I ever forget how it felt to find out my sister was missing and then a couple days later to find out she was dead.

Strangled in those woods she loved to spend hours every day in. Strangled in the woods where she met him every day.

I was the only witness to see them both walk up the street and into those woods at the end of our block. Since I was only eleven, I didn’t know if I should tell anyone. One time right after they found Amanda, I tried to explain to my mother that I saw him that day walking into the woods right before my sister did, but she started crying and I never got the words out.

Then it felt like there was never a right time to say what I needed to. I was too afraid to mention it to the police who were constantly around, day and night, turning our lives upside down. The local TV station reporter even asked me if I ever saw anything strange, but I simply shook my head and pressed my lips together, afraid if I didn’t that what I’d been holding in day after day would come out and no one would believe me or care.

I was eleven when Amanda was found dead, strangled by the man sitting right across from me at this very moment. I’ve waited fifteen years to repay him for the devastation he caused my family. For the misery that drove my mother to an early grave from a heart attack less than five years later and my father to kill himself by blowing his head off six months after that.

For ruining my life and the lives of everyone I loved.

“Ready for a drink? White wine goes best with chicken, or so they say, but I only have red. Are you okay with that?” I ask, practically choking on the bile rising in my throat at having to sit here and pretend to be nice to this monster.

Adam nods, and I see in his eyes he thinks I’m flirting. Good. I want him to think that’s what tonight is.

I stand from the table and have to brace myself because my legs nearly give out. A mixture of excitement and fear courses through my veins, making me shaky. Stay calm, Caroline. You’ve waited years for this night. You can do this.

He cannot stay alive one more day. He must pay for what he’s done. He will pay. Tonight.

As I pour two glasses of merlot, I try to calm myself, but my heart is racing like it’s out of control. I have to get control of myself. I’ve come too far. I can’t screw this up now.

Adam says something about not having any good wine in a long time, and I look over to my left to see him cleaning up the dishes from dinner. He has the polite guest routine down pat. I’m sure he’s fooled many a person with this little act of his.

Not me, though. I know who he is. He’s the same person who wrapped his hands around my sixteen-year-old sister’s neck and choked the life out of her.

I swirl the wine in his glass around once and then twice before checking to make sure it looks like it should. Perfect. My hand shakes, threatening to spill some of it onto the countertop, so I set it down and take a deep breath.

You’ve waited for so long to finally be here, Caroline. Don’t blow it now. Keep calm. The finish line is so close.

“Everything okay over there?” he asks with a chuckle, probably thinking he’s being funny or clever.

I bite my tongue for a second or two and then answer, “All good here.”

When I turn around, he’s in his chair at the table looking as comfortable as can be. It’s like he thinks he belongs here. Leaning against the back of the chair, he smiles up at me when I hand him the glass of wine that will be the beginning of his undoing.

“Thanks. It feels like this is an occasion for a toast.”

I sit down across from him and nod. It certainly does. Auspicious moments like this definitely require some words.

“It does. I’m struggling to come up with anything clever at the moment, though. I’m not good at these kinds of things. Not enough practice, I guess.”

Lifting his glass in the air, he grins and says, “To new friends and her new house. Congratulations to you, Caroline.”

I clink my glass off his and watch as he brings his glass to his lips. It feels like it happens in slow motion, like someone in control of the world is watching and wants to let me enjoy every delicious second of my revenge.

The dark red wine shifts in his glass and then slowly slides past his lips. I wait to see if he senses there’s anything strange tasting about it, but it never happens. He takes a second, bigger sip and then a third before he sets the glass down on the table in front of him.

“That’s very good wine.”

“Believe it or not, it’s from Trader Joe’s. I had it at my going away party a few months ago and loved it, but I was surprised when I asked my friend where she bought it from, and she told me Trader Joe’s. I swear you can get anything at that place.”

“Really? That’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve been to a Trader Joe’s in ages. I guess I have a reason to go back now.”

Part one of my plan is complete. Now I need to set part two into motion.

Right on time just as I asked her to, Kimmy knocks on the front door. I smile at him and shrug as I stand up to answer it. “Looks like it’s nosy neighbor time. Something tells me we should have done this at your house. I’ll be right back.”

When I open the door, Kimmy leans in and whispers, “Everything going okay? I’m here just as you asked.”

“Thanks. Everything is going perfectly.”

Obviously confused, she asks, “Why did you want me to come here now?”

I press my finger to my lips and whisper, “You know how men are. If you don’t put obstacles in their way, they think things are going to be easy.”

Kimmy’s eyes open wide, and then she smiles like she’s impressed by that. “Oh, that’s a good idea. You can’t let men think things are easy. Trust me. If I could go back in time and start over with Tim again, I’d make sure he knew that. You’re so smart, Caroline.”

“Thanks, Kimmy. I’ll let you know how everything goes. Have a good night.”

She looks around me and grins. “Oh, you too. Night!”

I watch her walk back to her house and wait until she’s inside to return to the kitchen. “That was Kimmy. You know how things are in this neighborhood. I have the feeling she’s just the first one we’ll have to deal with tonight. Any chance you want to go to your house instead? I don’t think they’ll bother us there, and we’ll be able to talk without being interrupted constantly.”

His eyes light up when I mention the two of us talking. I know how curious he is about me. I suspect somewhere deep in his psyche he knows who I am or has a feeling he’s met me before but can’t place where. I don’t look the same as I did when I was that gawky eleven-year-old who hadn’t grown up yet so he isn’t sure, but somewhere deep inside him, he recognizes me.

“Yeah, sure. We can head up there right now,” he says as he stands to leave.

The drugs should be working soon, so I need him to get back to his house in the next few minutes. As long as he’s at home, my plan will work.

“Great!” I turn to follow him toward the front door and stop dead. “Oh, damnit! Give me a couple minutes. I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

“Okay. Want me to take the wine, or do you want to bring it?”

“I’ve got it. See you in a couple minutes.”

Without another word, he walks out of my house for all my neighbors to see. Now I just have to make my way to his house without any of them seeing me.

I watch as he walks up the road to make sure someone witnesses him alone tonight, and Kimmy doesn’t disappoint. She looks confused and sad, and I’m betting she thinks she ruined the entire night I had planned.

Not to worry, dear Kimmy. You’re playing your part perfectly.

He hurries by her house without even waving, not interested in polite chatting when the good stuff is set to happen just minutes from now. I close my front door and hurry through the house to leave by the back door.

The interesting thing about this neighborhood is that while we like to think Park Circle is removed from the cul-de-sacs on either side of ours, it’s all connected with pathways people use to sneak around when they don’t want to be seen or they’re in a hurry and not wanting to be waylaid by some chatty neighbor interested in gossiping. Adam knows this well enough. That’s how he got to Sara’s the other night without anyone seeing him.

Except someone did see him. Me.

That’s how I knew I could give him an alibi and not have to worry. It’s also how I know it was Jared who beat poor Sara to a pulp and not Adam.

I hurry behind Marilyn and Harold’s yard and take a deep breath to smell the sweetness of all those roses she so carefully tends. That day I spent with her chatting about all things gardening wasn’t just my being friendly. I needed to make sure the pathway continued all the way up to behind Aaron and Adam’s houses.

As I pass Aaron’s white house, I see an empty sandbox and a child’s tricycle. Of all the people in this neighborhood, he’s the one I feel sorriest for. While everyone else seems to revel in gossiping about his pathetic life now that he’s lost his wife and kids, I can’t help but think he’s pitiful yet a decent person. We’ve only talked once since I moved in, but I knew the moment he mentioned that he didn’t like Adam that he wasn’t the crazy man everyone claims he is.

His house sits dark like it does most nights, so I hurry along to my destination, the point in time I’ve dreamed about and planned so meticulously for so long I almost feel like it’s already come and gone. I can’t let myself think like that, though. I deserve to enjoy this night.

I deserve to relish watching him suffer as I make him understand that while my sister’s death so quickly left the news and the attention of the police in our hometown, it never left me or my parents. They died because of it, his second and third victims of his heinous crime. It nearly consumed me over the years, but I fought against giving in to the utter grief that never went away.

I knew if I could hold on and be that smart girl Mr. Masters told me I was I could reach this moment when I get to exact my revenge on a killer.

My heart races again as I step out of the shadows and onto Adam’s front porch. I’ve watched every night to see how much the rest of our neighbors can see up here once it’s dark, and I know because he never leaves his porch light on that nobody can see a thing up here after the sun goes down.

With shaky hands, I knock on his door and hear him call out, “Come in!”

So trusting. He naturally assumes that only he can be dangerous. Foolish man.

I push open the door and step inside, crossing the final threshold to the goal I’ve waited more than half my life to reach. I walk in and see him sitting on his sofa in his living room. The curtains are drawn on every window, like they always are. He does love his privacy.

Now, I love it too and plan to take full advantage of it.

Patting the sofa cushion next to him, he smiles and says, “Take a seat. It must be the heat finally getting to me because that walk from your house to mine took it out of me. How about you?”

I shake my head and grin, knowing why he feels this way. The drugs are slow to work, but they are effective. I made sure of that.

“No, I feel good. In fact, I don’t think I’ve felt this good in years. It’s amazing what a little retribution will do for a girl.”

His smile fades as he tries to figure out what I’m talking about, but the drugs are starting to make his thinking fuzzy. I don’t have long before he doesn’t understand a thing, so now is the time.

“How does it feel, Adam?” I ask as I take a step closer to him and stop.

Confused, he shakes his head. “How does what feel?”

“How does it feel to not be able to fight back and know you can’t stop what’s about to happen?”

He opens his mouth to say something, but the words never come out. Fine. I’ll tip my hand a little before the big reveal.

“Let me introduce myself. My name is Caroline Michaels. You killed my sister Amanda. Understand what I meant by retribution now?”

I see my news register in his eyes before fear fills them. I imagine that’s what my sister’s looked like when he first slid his hands around her neck and began squeezing the life out of her.

“Welcome to the last few minutes of your life, Adam.”