PART 3

Emily quickly shoved the note back into the envelope.

“Not a word,” she whispered.

Logan nodded, trembling.

The front door opened.

Ben walked inside carrying a duffel bag.

He looked tired.

Too tired.

He smiled when he saw them.

“I thought I’d surprise you.”

Emily forced herself to smile back.

“Chicago already over?”

“The meeting got canceled.”

He kissed her forehead.

Then looked at Logan.

“Everything okay, buddy?”

Logan almost answered.

Emily squeezed his shoulder before he could speak.

“He’s just tired.”

Ben studied them for a second.

Long enough to make Emily uncomfortable.

Then he walked into the kitchen.

She heard him open the silverware drawer.

Silence.

Then…

“Emily?”

Her heart nearly stopped.

“Yeah?”

“Did you move the forks?”

She forced herself to laugh.

“What?”

“There were more in here.”

“I have no idea.”

Ben slowly closed the drawer.

When he turned around…

The smile on his face was gone.

That night Emily barely slept.

Around two in the morning she heard footsteps downstairs.

She quietly left the bedroom.

Ben wasn’t beside her anymore.

She followed the sound into the garage.

The lights were off.

Only the glow of a flashlight.

Ben was kneeling beside the concrete floor.

He lifted a loose wooden panel.

Emily held her breath.

Inside was a metal safe.

He unlocked it.

Instead of money…

Instead of jewelry…

The safe was completely filled with silverware.

Dozens of forks.

Hundreds of them.

Some old.

Some brand new.

Some engraved with other families’ initials.

Emily felt cold.

What kind of person steals forks?

Then Ben pulled something else from the safe.

A small handgun.

He checked the magazine.

Loaded it.

Emily stepped backward.

The garage floor creaked.

Ben spun around.

Their eyes met.

For several long seconds…

Nobody moved.

Finally he sighed.

“I was hoping you’d never see this.”