The evening was filled with things that should not have happened.
At Melissa’s house, the situation grew stranger.
Autumn plugged in her phone.
It powered on after ten minutes.
Twenty-seven unread messages appeared.
None from Grant.
At least not under his name.
But there were security alerts.
Her email password had been changed twice in the last week.
A recovery email had been added.
An unknown device had logged into her cloud account.
And her old tablet, which she believed had been wiped before she sold it two years earlier, appeared as active.
Autumn stared at the device list.
“That tablet belonged to Grant.”
Owen looked over her shoulder.
“I thought you said you sold it.”
“I gave it to him.”
“Before we broke up.”
“He said he wanted it for work.”
“And your account was still logged in?”
“I reset it.”
“Apparently not enough.”
Melissa sat across the kitchen table.
“What could he access?”
Autumn swallowed.
“Messages.”
“Photos.”
“Locations.”
“Probably email.”
Owen asked:
“Your calendar?”
Her face changed.
“Yes.”
Meaning he could have known about the date.
But that still did not explain how he arranged it.
Melissa searched the fake matchmaking account.
Gone.
Deleted.
The phone number Grant once used was prepaid.
Likely inactive.
Then Autumn found a message in her archived email.
Three weeks earlier.
From her coworker Melissa.
Except the sender address had one extra letter.
A near-perfect fake.
The message suggested Owen as a blind date.
It contained enough accurate information to feel legitimate.
Meanwhile Owen’s sister had received similar fake messages pretending to be Autumn.
Grant had built both sides.
He had not merely interfered after learning about the date.
He created it.
Owen stared at the screen.
“Why?”
Autumn shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Melissa said:
“Maybe he wanted to scare you.”
“Maybe.”
Owen looked toward Autumn.
She did not believe that was all.
Neither did he.
Then Lily appeared in the kitchen doorway.
Owen had forgotten his sister was watching her for the evening.
His daughter wore Christmas pajamas and carried a stuffed polar bear.
She looked at the adults.
Then at Autumn.
Autumn froze.
Owen stood.
“Lily.”
His daughter walked directly toward him.
“You said you’d be home by ten.”
“I know.”
“You’re late.”
“I know.”
She examined Autumn carefully.
Then looked at Owen’s coat around her shoulders.
“Is this the date?”
Owen closed his eyes.
Melissa covered a smile.
Autumn looked terrified in a completely new way.
“Yes.”
Lily considered.