Category:

3

Julia watches the video again, this time in the hall. There's no doubt. It's her house. These are her things. She steps out of her heels and walks slowly up the stairs, her feet sinking into deep pile carpet. Beige. Just like everywhere. Just like in the video. At the top, the wide, bright landing stretches ahead. Six doors. And—she looks up—a hatch to the attic. She hasn't been up there yet, there's been no need. Half of their belongings are still being shipped—the winter clothes, the Christmas decorations, the ski gear. The attic is, as far as she knows, completely empty.

She stands still, listening. From downstairs, the low hum of the TV wafts up, but otherwise there's nothing. No creak, no scuffle, nothing to suggest there's someone up there. She shakes herself. It's some kind of online prank. To see her reaction, maybe. Is that it? A hidden camera? She looks around, above the doors, at the light fitting—an over-the-top suspended crystal sphere. It wouldn't be hard to hide a tiny camera in the middle of all those crystals...Then again, the clip seemed to have been filmed from floor level... But that's silly. There are no hidden cameras on her landing and there is nobody hiding in her attic.

She goes back down to the hall and finds Isla standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Did your dad say anything during his days here? Could it be something to do with him?" Julia asks.

Isla snorts. "Dad barely knows how to use his phone. I don't think he made the video."

"No, but if the clip wasn't filmed when I was here, it must have been when your dad was here. Nobody else has been in the house."

"Except Pauline."

"Well, yes." Somehow Julia can't imagine their no-nonsense housekeeper filming videos for social media. "I'll phone your dad anyway. You go finish your pizza."

Gabe picks up after one ring.

"All OK?" He sounds on edge, and has done for months, but it's been more pronounced, she realizes now, in recent weeks.

"Yeah...Are 'you' OK?" "I'm fine. What's up?"

"Do you know anything about a video made in the house?" "Huh?"

"I guessed not, but I wanted to check. Was there anyone inside the house when you were here?"

"The alarm guy. The alarm should be working now. I stuck his card on the whiteboard. And the letting agent called with the missing key for the balcony door in your bedroom. Why?"

"Were you home when they were here?"

"Alarm man, yes. Good guy, supports Liverpool." In all his years living in San Diego, Gabe never stopped following his beloved Liverpool and instinctively likes anyone else who supports them. "I was here when the letting agent called too. Same gobshite who gave me the keys when we were moving in." Julia smiles into the phone. This could mean anything. Gabe has a low tolerance for people who talk too much, people who talk too little, people who think they're smarter than he is, and people who aren't terribly sharp. "Gobshite" covered a multitude in Gabe-speak.

"Anyone else?"

"A neighbor called to welcome you. I suspect he was surprised when I answered the door." Julia can hear the grin, and this is more like the Gabe she's used to. "Tony is his name. Well groomed, sixties, preppy polo shirt, golf-course tan, quite pleased with himself. I told him I'm your husband."

"You're not my husband."

"I know. But I couldn't resist. When I opened the door, his face was a picture. He'd clearly spotted you here with the kids and decided to connect with what he believed to be an attractive single mother."

"Are you saying I'm not an attractive single mother?"

"You are, but he's not your type. I was protecting you from the local lothario."

This is very Gabe, still meddling nine years after they'd split. Sometimes it's sweet, sometimes intrusive. "I'll decide what my type is, thank you. But back to the video—I take it this guy Tony wasn't inside the house?"

"Nope. What's all this about?"

"Someone made a video of a guy letting himself out of an attic and creeping around a house, and it's our house. Isla spotted it on TikTok."

"On what?"

"You 'know' what TikTok is—social media where people share videos they make themselves."

Silence for a moment.