I locked the car and stepped out, pulling my jacket a little tighter as the rain tapped steadily against it. The street was quieter than most parts of the city, the kind of neighborhood that sat right on the edge of urban and suburban. There were still apartment buildings and paved roads, but they were smaller, older, and spaced out more loosely. A few houses stood between them, each with small front yards and dim porch lights. It wasn't exactly rural, but it had that slower, less crowded feel to it. Fewer cars, fewer people, and a kind of silence you didn't get downtown.
I walked up to the house and knocked on the door, then stepped back slightly. The lights were off inside, and there wasn't any sound coming through. For a moment, I hoped Ivy was just passed out in there, crashing at her friend's place and forgetting to tell Delilah. That would've been the easiest outcome.
I knocked again. Then again.
Still nothing.
