Just the Nicest Couple

Christian jolts awake in the night, hearing a beeping noise. Searching his house as quietly as possible, he locates the noise outside an open bathroom window. Just as Christian reaches to open the window blinds, the noise stops. He waits a few moments, then opens the blinds, noticing that his neighbor’s motion-detection lights are activated. Christian grabs a baseball bat and heads toward his back door, seeing the home’s deactivated alarm system. Christian can’t remember setting the alarm after the stress of the previous evening, but it is unlike him to forget.

Although Christian hears someone running away from him on the trail, he cannot see another person in or near his yard. He reasons that teenagers must be the culprits for the disturbance and reckons that he likely forgot to set the alarm. Still, Christian feels uncomfortable and cannot sleep for the remainder of the night.

The following morning, Christian contemplates his memories of Jake. He feels particularly disturbed when he recalls Jake commenting on Christian’s luck in marrying Lily. Christian remembers Jake’s eyes being “green with envy” as he stared at Lily (172). He and Lily discuss how little they know about Jake.

Later, Christian checks his yard in daylight for signs of trespassing. He doesn’t see anything amiss and recalls transient camps for people without homes further up the trail. Christian feels urged to call the police and report potential trespassing, but he doesn’t want to risk any police attention.

Nina hurries from school to take her mother to an oncology appointment. Her mother needs to have a lump in her breast biopsied, and Nina has a bad feeling that her mother’s tumor is malignant. In her rush, Nina stumbles over a crack in the parking lot and drops her travel coffee mug. She bends down under her car to retrieve the mug and notices what appears to be a GPS tracking device attached to the bottom of her car. Nina’s colleague, Ryan, appears and confirms that the device is a GPS tracker.

Ryan asks Nina if everything is okay in her marriage. At first, Nina defends Jake, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt. Then Nina remembers when Jake read Nina’s text messages without Nina’s permission and asked accusatory questions about platonic texts from another male teacher. Nina confesses to Ryan that Jake left. As she retells the past week's events, Ryan steps close to Nina, consoling her. Nina remembers her mother’s appointment and leaves abruptly, dropping the GPS tracker in the trash before driving away.

The biopsy is brief, after which Nina and her mother go out to dinner. Both women are in a somber mood upon returning to Nina’s house. Nina immediately notices that the front door to her house is ajar and discovers muddy footprints in the entryway. Nina and her mother both hear a crash from upstairs. Nina investigates, finding a shattered perfume bottle and her cat close by. Realizing that the cat probably knocked over the perfume and accepting the possibility that she forgot to lock the door, Nina rationalizes everything except the large, muddy footprints. She realizes how strongly she was hoping to see Jake in their bedroom.

Nina observes how she feels about the primary bedroom and bathroom compared to when she and Jake first built their house. She previously considered the rooms a peaceful, luxurious retreat. However, the hostile nature of her and Jake’s last argument and his subsequent disappearance leave Nina unsettled by her room.

Christian considers the possibility that Jake faked his death and lingers in the woods outside Christian and Lily’s property, watching the couple. He leaves work early and returns Jake’s key fob to Nina’s house, entering through the garage again and moving quickly. Then Christian visits Langley Woods and searches for Jake. He remembers a young woman, Amanda Holmes, who went missing in Langley Woods several years prior. Authorities found a suicide note on her car dashboard in the parking lot adjacent to Langley Woods. Although a massive search effort for Amanda was deployed, her body wasn’t recovered until a year later when hikers discovered it.

Christian finds nothing in the woods and returns home as night approaches. Walking to his car, he has a chance encounter with Ryan, although Ryan doesn’t remember Christian. Christian returns Ryan’s wallet, which Ryan dropped accidentally, and the men go their separate ways.

Nina’s neighbor across the street sends Nina another video of the black sedan. The recording has better quality video, and Nina watches as the same man from the black sedan enters her house through the garage. Nina feels frightened and violated. Moreover, she realizes that her mother never saw Jake, who could still be hurt or dead. Nina and her mother drive to the police station to report the intruder. Sharing her neighbor’s video with a police officer, Nina feels confident that the authorities will be able to uncover the intruder’s identity.

Lily and Christian work from home in the dark; the uncovered large windows on the back of the house leave both adults feeling exposed. The police visit Lily and Christian at home, asking questions about Jake and Nina. At first, Lily panics at the police presence. However, Christian is impressed by his wife’s composure when answering the officer’s questions. Lily coyly tells the officer about Nina’s marital problems. She lies and exaggerates, portraying Nina as jealous and malicious. Christian feels proud of his wife’s deceptive abilities, realizing that he didn’t know that Lily could be so intentionally misleading.

Nina leaves the police station feeling disheartened. The clarity of her neighbor’s video is poor, and the police do not possess any technology to enhance the images. Because days have passed since the intruder entered Nina’s home, any evidence like fingerprints has likely been disturbed. Nina mentions the anonymous flowers sent to her at work, and the police declare that they will investigate the sender. Officer Boone advises Nina to change all locks and entrance codes and purchase a security system for the house. She feels inadequate and morose upon realizing that Jake typically handled tasks like setting the garage code; she has no idea where to find the user manual for the garage door. Nina’s mother offers to help.

Nina is primarily concerned for Jake since he has been missing for over a week. She feels uncomfortable in her own home, not wanting to fall asleep in case the intruder should return. Nina enters Jake’s office, intending to retrieve Jake’s gun from his safe and keep it on her bedside table. She remembers being opposed to having a gun in the house but eventually giving in to Jake. Nina opens the safe and discovers that Jake’s gun is missing.

Lily and Christian visit Lily’s obstetrician after Lily discovers blood in her underwear. The couple’s previous experiences with miscarriage leave Christian feeling extremely anxious. He fears that the stress from the past week is negatively affecting Lily’s pregnancy. The couple feels relieved upon hearing the baby’s heartbeat. They can see the fetus on the ultrasound, and Lily jokes about the big head resembling Christian’s large forehead.

Christian convinces Lily to relax on the couch while watching television at home. Breaking news interrupts the program that the couple is watching to report on a body found in Langley Woods.