I wash my hands and grab my phone as soon as I open the bathroom door. Alex watches patiently while eating her Cap’n Crunch with Crunch Berries. Because there’s no better kind of Crunch.
I scroll the headlines. Searching.
Nothing.
No mainstream news outlets have reported on a missing or murdered woman.
Of course not. It’s been less than twelve hours. If she was alone, no one even knows she’s missing yet.
I sink onto the bed and frown.
“What are you looking for?” Alex asks between spoonfuls.
“Murder downtown.”
“Reddit, TikTok, or Nextdoor.” She scoops more cereal. “Sometimes Facebook. The South Philly Watchdog.”
I pull up Nextdoor while she watches. Nothing.
Facebook—nothing.
Reddit—nothing.
“Impossible. I heard him admit it.”
But of course there’s nothing. Even if someone reports her missing, there’s no body. No crime scene.
It’s like she never existed.
And that’s exactly what Dom does. What he’s paid to do.
Alex finishes her cereal and sets the bowl aside. “Talk,” she says gently.
Fuck, she is so patient.
I drop my phone, then think better of it and turn it off. Alex raises a brow but waits.
“I...” I rub my eyes.Did I hallucinate last night?“I don’t know if I’m losing my mind.”
“Where did the mind loss start?”
“Great question.” I take a breath. “I was working in the stacks.”
“Creepiest room at Draven & Associates.” She shivers.
“I finished. But the elevator was out.”
“Worst time for that. I bet it was late.”
“Two a.m.” I can vividly recall the choice to take the stairs. See? It did happen. I’m not hallucinating. “I had to take the stairs. The lights went out.”
“You have the biggest balls.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course,” she says. “Literally no one in that building could take those creepy stairs at two in the morning with the lights out.”
“It is my superpower.” Among many. “I heard something.”
