My Fingerprint Was Never Saved, but Her Lock Was Always Open Chapter 08

My Fingerprint Was Never Saved, but Her Lock Was Always Open Chapter 08

“That’s not true…

Gavin stood there, all the color drained from his face.

“You don’t have to explain,” I said.

“It’s obvious how much you care about her You two deserve each other.”

I stepped around him and headed for the exit.

“Nora,” he called after me.

I didn’t stop.

The night wind hit me as I walked outside. I pulled my coat tighter and turned into the convenience store on

the corner.

Rows of bottled water stood neatly inside the refrigerated case. I took one.

Gavin remained where he was.

He watched Nora disappear around the corner.

He spent the night in Tampa.

The next morning, he checked out of his hotel and returned to the office building.

He didn’t go inside or wait for her. He simply stood across the street and watched for a while.

At eight thirty, office workers began streaming in and out of the building.

He never saw Nora.

He didn’t know what time she started work or which direction she came from.

He knew nothing about her life here.

After ten minutes, he turned and headed for the train station.

On the train home, he suddenly remembered something Nora had once said.

“We should visit another city together sometime.”

“Sure,” he had replied.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere.

“Then I plan it.”

She had actually put together an itinerary and sent it to him.

It was a packed three-day, two-night trip, complete with notes on which restaurants were worth trying.

But he had said, “I’m busy right now. Maybe next time.”

He had no idea how long she had spent planning it.

He had never even opened the link.

After getting back to town, Gavin didn’t go home.

He went straight to the county clerk’s recording office.

At the counter, he asked how to replace a damaged property transfer deed.

The recording clerk handed him a checklist and explained each requirement.

This was what he should have done the day after the deed was destroyed.

Instead, he had stayed at the emergency room with Vanessa.

On his way back from the recording office, he ran into Ryan outside the apartment complex.

Ryan was carrying a convenience-store bag. He looked surprised when he saw Gavin.

“Gavin? I haven’t seen you around in a while. Where’s your… girlfriend? She hasn’t been by lately.”

Gavin stopped.

“She left,” he said.

Ryan’s smile faded. “Left? Where did she go?”

“I don’t know.”

Ryan stood there, the plastic bag swinging slightly from his hand.

After a moment, he said, “I ran into her downstairs that night.”

“She said she couldn’t get in because the lock had changed. I didn’t think anything of it, so I told her Vanessa was upstairs cooking…”

“Looking back, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Gavin said nothing.

Ryan continued, “Vanessa really crossed a line with some of the things she did.”

‘Don’t tell me anything about her from now on,” Gavin said.

Then he walked into the apartment complex.

When he got home, he grabbed a trash bag and threw away everything Vanessa had left there.

It was almost ten at night when I left the office.

The air was cool as I walked back to my apartment. The trip took only fifteen minutes.

After a few steps, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t thought about Gavin in nearly a month.

When was the last time?

Probably the day I went to buy a comforter and saw a sheet set identical to the one at his apartment.

I had frozen in front of the shelf for a few seconds before choosing a different set.

I hadn’t thought about him since then.

I wasn’t deliberately trying not to.

He simply no longer came to mind.

Once I passed my probationary period at work, I moved.

My new apartment was a little larger than the studio I had been renting, and it had a small balcony.

I bought a smart lock and decided to install it myself.

The installer offered to come by, but I declined. I wanted to try it on my own.

I removed the old lock, fitted the base of the new one into place, and tightened the screws harder than

necessary.

When I finished, I stepped outside and pressed my finger to the scanner.

“Fingerprint enrolled successfully.”