Adanna didn't breathe. She didn't move.
She only listened.
The creak had come from the hallway upstairs. It wasn't loud — just soft enough to sound like an accident. Like someone who didn't want to be heard.
But she had heard it.
She placed the envelope back behind the mirror, heart racing. If whoever was upstairs came down now and saw what she'd found…
No. She had to move.
She slipped off her heels and crept toward the hallway, silent on the marble floor. Every shadow felt darker. Every sound louder.
Halfway up the stairs, she paused and heard it again… this time from the guest bedroom. She hadn't used that room in weeks.
She reached into the drawer near the stairwell, Malcolm's "just-in-case" drawer. Her fingers wrapped around a cold metal object. A flashlight.
And next to it… a small taser.
She didn't know how to use it. But right now, that didn't matter.
She pushed the guest room door open slowly.
Empty.
Just as she lowered the flashlight, a voice behind her whispered:
"You shouldn't have come in here."
Adanna spun around.
But there was no one there.