SOMEONE ERASED MY SECURITY FOOTAGE AFTER COMING INTO MY YARD—BUT WHEN IT WAS RECOVERED, THE TECHNICIAN PANICKED, AND WHAT I SAW MADE MY BLOOD RUN COLD.

"They're planning to run," I told Miller. "Thomas is spooked. If you don't move tonight, you'll lose them."

"We move now," Miller said, his eyes hardening into a professional, lethal glare. "You stay in the back of my car, Mark. Until they are in cuffs, you are still technically a suspect. But if this holds up... you're a free man."

I climbed into the back of his unmarked cruiser. We drove back to my neighborhood without sirens. When we turned onto my street, there were no police cruisers left—the crime scene unit had packed up hours ago.

But Thomas's truck was idling in the driveway. The trunk was open, and Thomas was throwing suitcases into the back.

Miller picked up his police radio. "All units, this is Miller. I have eyes on the suspects at the Evans residence. Move in. Suspects are a flight risk."

Within seconds, the street erupted in a sea of red and blue lights. Four cruisers swarmed the driveway, blocking Thomas's truck from all angles.

Thomas froze, dropping a suitcase onto the wet pavement. He threw his hands in the air immediately, dropping to his knees. Coward to the very end.

Sarah walked out onto the front porch, carrying a designer overnight bag. When she saw the lights, and the officers drawing their weapons, her fake tears vanished. The mask fell off completely. She looked like a trapped animal.