Chapter 21 - Inside the House
Ms. Bennett changed the Wi-Fi password immediately.
Then every lock.
Detective Reed arrived with another officer.
Nia stood in the living room beneath the graduation banner.
“Who has access to this house?” Reed asked.
“Me and my mother.”
“Keys?”
“My aunt has one.”
“Anyone else historically?”
Nia thought.
“Jasmine.”
Her mother looked at her.
Nia continued.
“She had an emergency key.”
“Does she still?”
“I don’t know.”
Ms. Bennett whispered, “The ceramic planter.”
For years, Jasmine had known they kept a backup key beneath a false bottom.
Ms. Bennett rushed outside.
The compartment was empty.
Nia felt sick.
Detective Reed asked, “When did you last see the key?”
Neither knew.
Security footage from the doorbell camera showed no obvious entry.
But the Bennett house had a side garage door outside the camera’s view.
The garage camera had stopped working two months earlier.
Malik knew that.
Jasmine knew that.
So did several relatives.
Nia called Jasmine.
“Where is the emergency key?”
“What?”
“The key from the planter.”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you take it?”
“No.”
“When did you last use it?”
“January.”
“Did Malik know about it?”
Silence.
Nia closed her eyes.
“Of course.”
“He saw me use it.”
“When?”
“The day we came over and you were late getting home.”
Nia remembered.
Malik had waited in the kitchen with Jasmine.
Detective Reed took the phone.
“Jasmine, do not contact Malik. Do you understand?”
Jasmine sounded frightened.
“Yes.”
“Has he asked about the Bennett house recently?”
“No.”
“Think.”
A pause.
“Two days ago he asked whether Nia’s mom still worked Thursdays.”
Nia’s skin prickled.
Ms. Bennett worked from her downtown office every Thursday.
Nia had been at Tasha’s that afternoon.
The house had been empty.
Detective Reed asked, “What did you say?”
“That I didn’t know.”
“Did he ask anything else?”
“Whether they changed the alarm code.”
Ms. Bennett whispered, “Jesus.”
The alarm system log showed it had been disarmed Thursday at 2:11 p.m.
Using a valid code.
Nia knew the code.
Her mother.
Her aunt.
Jasmine had known the old one.
Malik had seen Nia enter it countless times.
They had not changed it after graduation.
Ms. Bennett sat down.
“This is my fault.”
“No,” Nia said.
“We should have changed it.”
“Yes.”
Nia’s voice stayed firm.
“But knowing my code is not permission to enter my house.”
Detective Reed nodded slightly.
They checked the home office.
Nothing obvious was missing.
Then Nia opened her bedroom.
The cardboard box containing Malik’s gifts had moved.
She knew because it had been beneath her desk.
Now it sat inside the closet.
Detective Reed photographed it before anyone touched it.
Inside, the Valentine’s letter was missing.
So was the photo strip.
But why would Malik risk entering to steal sentimental objects?
Then Nia remembered.
The old phone.
She had placed her previous iPhone in the bottom of the box months ago after upgrading.
It was gone.
“That phone had my accounts logged in.”
Detective Reed asked, “Could it connect to your Wi-Fi automatically?”
“Yes.”
There was the device.
Someone had entered, taken Nia’s old phone, and connected from inside or nearby.
“Can we track it?” Ms. Bennett asked.
Nia opened Find My.
The phone appeared offline.
Last location:
Bennett residence.
Thursday, 2:18 p.m.
Detective Reed requested the alarm company preserve logs.
They also sought neighboring camera footage.
By evening, a neighbor delivered the missing piece.
At 2:04 p.m., a dark blue Honda parked three houses down.
Malik’s car.
At 2:09, a figure in a hooded sweatshirt walked toward the Bennett home.
The camera did not capture his face clearly.
At 2:26, he returned carrying something in his pocket.
Malik’s car left.
Nia watched the footage once.
She did not need a perfect facial image.
The walk was familiar.
The shoulders.
The slight outward turn of the right foot from an old basketball injury.
Her mother whispered, “That’s him.”
Detective Reed remained cautious.
“It appears consistent. We will verify.”
That night Malik finally called from his actual number.
Nia stared at it.
Detective Reed had told her she did not need to answer.
She answered anyway.
“What?”
Malik breathed heavily.
“You went to police.”
“Yes.”
“You gave them everything.”
“Everything I had.”
“You’re trying to put me in jail.”
“No.”
Nia’s voice was steady.
“I’m telling the truth about what you did.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“No.”
He sounded desperate.
“My mom can barely look at me.”
“That is not because of me.”
“My uncle is closing the gym.”
“Not because of me.”
“Jasmine won’t talk to me.”
“Not because of me.”
“You destroyed everything.”
Nia almost laughed.
“No, Malik.”
She looked at Nathan’s letter beside her.
“You keep standing in the wreckage of your choices and asking why I made the mess.”
Silence.
Then Malik’s voice changed.
Cold.
“Did you ever love me?”
Nia’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
That answer seemed to surprise him.
“I loved you.”
She swallowed.
“That is what makes what you did betrayal instead of inconvenience.”
He began crying.
Nia did too.
But she did not soften the truth.
“I’m going to Hawthorne.”
Malik breathed shakily.
“Nia—”
“My housing got restored today.”
He said nothing.
“I leave in August.”
Silence.
“And you do not get to stop me.”
Nia ended the call.
For the first time, she did not block the number.
She simply placed the phone face down.
Malik’s access was ending.
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Not because every door had locks.
Because Nia had finally stopped opening them.
