TURN OFF EVERY LIGHT
PART ONE — THE CALL AT 12:08 A.M.
My sister called me at exactly 12:08 a.m.
I almost didn’t answer.
My husband, Caleb Morrison, was asleep beside me, facing the wall. Rain tapped softly against the bedroom windows of our home outside Arlington, Virginia.
The house was unusually quiet.
Our son, Noah, wasn’t home that weekend. He was staying with Caleb’s parents, which was the only reason I had managed to get some sleep.
Then my phone vibrated.
Mara.
My sister.
I stared at her name.
Mara worked for the FBI.
She wasn’t the kind of person who called after midnight just to say hello.
When I finally answered, I whispered,
“Mara?”
For several seconds, there was nothing.
Then I heard her breathing.
Fast.
Uneven.
And when she finally spoke, her voice was barely recognizable.
“Elise, listen to me carefully.”
I sat up.
“What happened?”
“Turn everything off.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Every light. Your phone. Everything.”
My stomach tightened.
Then she said the one thing that made my entire body go cold.
“Go to the attic.”
I stared into the darkness of my bedroom.
“Why?”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“And whatever you do…”
“Don’t tell your husband.”
I looked at Caleb.
He hadn’t moved.
For one second, I wondered if Mara had made a mistake.
Maybe she’d been working too long.
Maybe something had happened at the Bureau.
Maybe she was exhausted.
“Mara, you’re scaring me.”
“Elise.”
Her voice became sharper.
“Do exactly what I’m telling you.”
I swallowed.
“Why can’t I tell Caleb?”
There was a pause.
Then Mara whispered,
“Because I don’t know who you can trust anymore.”
My heart began pounding.
“Mara, what are you talking about?”
“Just go.”
“I need you to explain—”
“NOW.”
She suddenly shouted so loudly that I pulled the phone away from my ear.
I looked at Caleb again.
He stirred.
“Elise?”
I froze.
“I’m getting some water,” I whispered.
He didn’t answer.
I slipped out of bed.
My feet touched the cold floor.
I grabbed my phone charger without even realizing why.
Then I stepped into the hallway.
And I turned off the light.
For the first time that night, I noticed something strange.
The hallway light had been on.
I always left it off.
I moved through the house slowly.
The kitchen light.
Off.
The living room lamp.
Off.
The small light near the stairs.
Off.
Every time I touched a switch, my fingers trembled.
Mara remained silent on the phone.
I could hear her breathing.
Nothing else.
When I reached the attic stairs, I stopped.
The darkness above me looked deeper than it should have.
I whispered,
“Mara?”
“I’m here.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Go upstairs.”
I placed one foot on the first step.
It creaked.
I stopped.
Caleb’s voice came from the bedroom.
“Elise?”
I nearly dropped the phone.
“I’m getting water,” I repeated.
Silence.
Then I heard him turn over.
I continued climbing.
One step.
Then another.
The attic door was at the top.
I opened it carefully.
Dust filled the air.
Old Christmas decorations were stacked along the walls. Boxes from our wedding. Baby clothes Noah had outgrown. Things we hadn’t touched in years.
I stepped inside.
Then I pulled the door closed.
“Lock it,” Mara whispered.
I slid the latch into place.
“Done.”
“Stay away from the window.”
I moved away immediately.
Then I asked,
“Mara… what’s happening?”
She didn’t answer.
I waited.
“Mara?”
Nothing.
Then the call suddenly ended.
I stared at my phone.
Call ended.
I immediately called her back.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
I tried again.
Nothing.
I was completely alone in the dark attic.
At least, that’s what I thought.
Then I heard something downstairs.
A door opening.
I stopped breathing.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Someone was walking through my house.
I crouched beside the floorboards.
My heart hammered against my chest.
Then I heard Caleb.
But something about his voice was different.
He wasn’t sleepy anymore.
He sounded completely calm.
“Lights are off.”
A second voice answered him.
A man’s voice.
Deep.
Unfamiliar.
“Then she knows.”
My hand flew over my mouth.
I crawled closer to the floorboards.
There was a narrow gap between two pieces of wood.
I looked through it.
And what I saw made my blood run cold.
Caleb was standing in the hallway.
He wasn’t alone.
A stranger wearing a black raincoat stood beside him.
And Caleb was holding my laptop.
PART ONE CLIFFHANGER
The stranger reached inside his coat.
He pulled out a small black case.
Caleb took it.
Neither man spoke.
Then Caleb opened it.
Inside were three passports.
I couldn’t see everything from where I was hiding.
But I could see the photographs.
My husband’s face.
My son’s face.
And mine.
My hands began shaking.
Why would we have passports I had never seen before?
Caleb picked up the first one.
Then the second.
Then the third.
The stranger leaned closer.
“Are you sure she doesn’t know?”
Caleb looked toward the stairs.
“No.”
He paused.
Then he said something that made my blood turn to ice.
“She doesn’t even know who she married.”
And that’s when I realized the man downstairs wasn’t the biggest danger in my house.
