Chapter 6
Liam moved before Gwen could speak.
He unlocked the sliding door and threw it open.
Freezing wind burst into the apartment, slamming the curtains sideways.
Snow rushed across the floor.
The wine in Gwen’s glass trembled.
“Nora!”
Liam stepped onto the balcony in his black suit, shoes sinking into the snow.
He did not look over the railing.
Not yet.
He could not.
Fear held his body in place.
Where Nora had knelt, only three things remained.
Her wedding ring.
The folded cream note.
One wet handprint on the railing.
Liam bent and picked up the ring first.
It was colder than anything he had ever held.
The note lay beside it, edges damp but still folded.
He reached for it.
Then stopped.
Behind him, Gwen whispered, “Don’t touch that.”
Liam turned slowly.
The apartment floor glistened.
Wet shoe prints crossed from the front hallway toward the balcony door.
He stared at them.
Then at Nora’s bare footprints outside in the snow.
They did not match.
Nora had been barefoot.
The prints inside were from someone wearing shoes.
Someone who had walked in from the hallway.
Someone who had approached the balcony before Nora ever stepped outside.
Liam looked at Gwen’s shoes.
The soles were wet.
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Her smile was gone.
Read the full story 👉 The balcony held Nora’s ring, but the apartment floor held the clue that pointed back inside.
