THE DISAPPEARANCE
Two days later, Kaela Morgan vanished.
Her cat was found wandering the apartment complex, hungry and confused. Her car was still in the lot. Her purse was still on the kitchen table. Her phone was still on the charger.
She had simply… disappeared.
Maya learned about it from her source at the police department.
“Missing person report came in this morning. Roommate hadn’t seen her in two days.”
“Any signs of foul play?”
“None. The apartment was clean. No forced entry. No struggle. She just left.”
“Without her phone? Without her car?”
A pause.
“It’s weird. I’ll give you that. But people walk away from their lives every day. Happens more than you think.”
“Not to women who are seeing Dr. Vance.”
The source was silent.
Maya hung up.
She drove to Kaela’s apartment.
The police had already come and gone. The door was sealed with evidence tape, but Maya found a window around the backâcracked, unlocked, easy to slip through.
She climbed inside.
The apartment was small and neat. Dishes in the sink. Books on the shelves. A half-empty coffee cup on the nightstand.
And on the bedside table, a notebook.
Maya opened it.
It was a dream journal.
The last entry was dated the day before Kaela disappeared.
“Dreamed of the bridge again. The water was black. I was standing on the railing. I wasn’t scared. I felt… peaceful. Dr. Vance says this is progress. He says I’m healing.”
Maya’s hands shook.
She photographed the page.
Then she heard a sound behind her.
She turned.
Dr. Vance was standing in the doorway.
“Maggie,” he said. “Or should I call you Maya?”
His smile was the same. Kind. Gentle. Perfect.
But his eyes were cold.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.”