required to file them with a government agency.”
“So I’ll have to ask Calvin about it, then.” I stared at my hands, full of dread.
“I don’t think you should do that yet.”
I looked up. “Why not?”
He didn’t answer, instead just stared at the house for a few moments, then sat back in his seat. “Do me a favor. Drive around the block, then park up the way we came, about five car lengths back. In the shade of the oak tree.”
“Why?”
“Nina, just do it, please.”
Reluctantly, I did as he said. A few minutes later we were parked on the side of the road, partially hidden under the shade cast by the oak in the front yard. Once the engine was turned off, Matthew pulled out his phone and chose the camera app as if he was going to take a picture.
“What are you doing?” I asked, making to get out of the car.
He put a hand on my arm. “Wait.”
I pulled it away. “Matthew, can we please just get this over with? I have a right to see what’s going on in my own house—”
“Nina, hush.”
Just as I opened my mouth to argue that he should hush himself, the door to the house opened, and three pale girls, led by the one who had answered the door yesterday, trudged out in a line toward the van. Matthew clicked away, taking pictures of all of them. The door opened again, and they were followed by the man from yesterday.
“There he is,” I said. “I’m getting out.”
“Nina, you sit tight in the fuckin’ car. I’m not kidding.”
“Matthew, what is going on? That’s the man I spoke to yesterday.”
He just continued to snap photos as the party opened the van and got in. “Yeah, I figured.”
“What is going on? Do you know him?”
“Do you?” The question was curt and cold, suddenly laced with tension.
I frowned. “What? No, I told you I have no idea who he is.”
We watched the van pull out of the driveway and down the street until it was out of sight.
“Well, that’s perfect,” I said. “Matthew, I needed to talk to him.”
“Well, you can look around right now. They aren’t there, and if they’re squatting, entering isn’t violating any of their rights.” He looked at my purse. “You have your keys?”
I went still. Something about this felt very strange. “I…yes, but—”
“Well, come on, then,” he said curtly. “Let’s go.”
He followed my cautious steps up to the house, then watched as I slipped the key into the lock. It gave immediately. I frowned. I wasn’t sure it was a good thing that even the locks hadn’t been changed in ten years.
“Come on,” Matthew said again as he glanced up and down the street. Then he took my hand and pulled me quickly inside.
It was even worse inside than out. My beautiful house had been completely wrecked and was now clearly functioning as some sort of drug den. We walked into a living room that had been strewn with rumpled sleeping bags. Tourniquets and syringes were strewn in a few corners along with spoons and materials I assumed were used for some sort of drug production. The walls were scraped and stained. The only furniture was an old TV in one corner cramped by two battered couches that looked like they had been pulled from a dumpster.
“Oh my God,” I breathed, holding a hand to my nose to block the strange burnt stench that filled the room.
“Shit,” Matthew said. He took pictures of everything we saw, then grabbed my hand and pulled me through the house.
We didn’t venture upstairs, but the rest of the main floor was much the same. The kitchen was strewn with leftovers and rotting takeout.
Matthew opened a cupboard and swore loudly. “Jesus, that’s a shit ton of fentanyl.”
The sun room at the back of the house contained more drug paraphernalia as well as a stack of pornography in one corner.
“What is this place?” I wondered as we approached the back deck. “What are they doing here?”
“A safe house,” Matthew said shortly.
“For what?” I stared.
He darted a dark look at me, but couldn’t answer because right then there was a sound of jangling keys as the front door was unlocked.
“We have to get out of here,” Matthew said, pulling me quickly toward the back of the house.
Just as the sounds of heavy feet slapped on the wood floors, we opened one of the french doors and slipped into my beautiful backyard, which was now just as overgrown and mistreated