Page 40 of Aperture

“Why were you upset?” he asks.

I shake my head, deciding not to make this situation worse by telling him about Wyatt.

“I wasn’t upset. Just rushing to get out the door before I talked myself out of going.” I give him a half smile.

He surprises me with the next words he speaks. “You need to call Wyatt.”

“No. Why?” I question, even though I know it’s something that needs to happen.

“Millie, this is about him too. Whoever was in your home involved him by leaving this picture,” he reasons.

I know he’s right. I wish I could make sense of any of this. Tentatively, I sit down and make the call to Wyatt, making no mention of the fight or alluding to anything that happened earlier. I simply tell him what has transpired over the past hour, and he shows up less than twenty minutes later with two uniformed officers.

“Millie,” he says when he walks in. “Let’s go sit down.”

He directs the officers to the room to survey the area and ignores Theo completely. I follow him to the kitchen table and take a seat. Theo sits next to me and takes my hand in his own, causing Wyatt’s jaw to tense as he scowls at Theo.

“There is no need for you to be here right now, Theodore,” he says condescendingly.

“As Millie’s boyfriend, and part of this situation by being in the damn picture, I think there is a big fucking reason for me to be here, Wyatt,” Theo spits back.

Wyatt wants to argue, but deep down, he knows Theo is right.

“So, walk me through what happened. Do not leave out a detail.” He pulls a notebook out of the black satchel he sometimes carries to take notes.

“I went for a run with Milo this morning. I don’t remember if I set the alarm on the front door. I was in a rush.”

“Continue,” he says.

Our eyes meet, and we silently agree that we can skip the part where I chewed him out at the coffee shop earlier.

“We walked home, and as soon as we got here, Milo went crazy, and I could tell something was off.”

“How long were you gone?”

I do the math in my head. “About an hour and a half.”

“When you say that you felt something was off, what do you mean?”

“I don’t know. It just felt like my house was colder somehow. It felt off,” I repeat. “I know, it doesn't make sense, but that’s the only way I can explain it.” Theo squeezes my hand in reassurance.

“Did you touch anything?” he asks.

“I turned the light on in the spare room and picked up the picture. That’s it.”

Wyatt nods. “I will be right back.”

He walks over and speaks quietly to the uniformed officers and then turns back toward us. Once he takes his seat, he looks directly at Theo.

“There is something else,” I admit while chewing on my bottom lip.

“What?” Wyatt questions.

I glance first at Theo’s confused face and then meet Wyatt’s intense glower. “I have had this strange feeling for a while now that someone is watching me.”

“Why haven’t you said something?” Theo asks.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I thought I was imagining it. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing.”