MARGARET POV
I stood outside Elena's apartment building again, staring at the door.
The police had already searched over and over and found nothing suspicious.
"Looks like she packed a bag and left," the detective had said. "Happens more often than you'd think. Young woman, traumatized, decides she needs a fresh start."
"Elena wouldn't do that without telling me."
"With all due respect, ma'am, you've only known her a few months. People in crisis do unexpected things."
But he was wrong.
I knew Elena. Knew her pain. Knew her strength.
She was a fighter. A survivor.
She wouldn't just leave.
I'd been calling hospitals, shelters, everywhere I could think of.
Nothing.
It was like she'd vanished into thin air.
I organized a search party. Other Riverside families. People from the trial who'd supported Elena.
We combed through parks, searched along the river, and put up missing person posters.
Her face stared out from telephone poles and storefront windows.
