Chapter 537

Conner left Cecilia's condo shortly before noon, returning to his apartment while she headed out for a lunch date with her father. She’d invited him to come along, but he had begged off. The return of his nightmare had left him very unsettled. He didn’t really want to be alone, but he didn’t feel like socializing, either. So he spent the afternoon lazing around his apartment, watching football and killing time. He and Cecilia would see each other for dinner.

Currently, he lay stretched out on his back on his bed with his hands clasped over his eyes, palms facing up toward the ceiling, resting. The television rattled on in the living room—he could hear muted voices and an occasional outburst of cheering from a late game. A wide band of sunlight streamed through the west-facing window, covering his bed like a warm, weightless blanket.

The inactivity was a mistake. His thoughts turned to the file in the kitchen drawer, where it had lain unlooked at since Thursday evenin