“But she never came,” Nadia continues. “Her phone just goes straight to voicemail.” She looks down at the desk. “I went to the police the next day,” she says. “But they told me people always think they have to wait 24 hours, which isn’t actually true… they just said they didn’t have enough information yet.” Her voice breaks slightly. “I still can’t reach her. I went around her neighborhood yesterday. I called her work. No one has seen her.”
My throat feels dry.
“I… saw her two days ago,” I say quietly.
Nadia looks up quickly.
“You did?”
“Yes,” I say. “We all went to dinner.” I swallow. “Marcus… Emily… Sophie… and Dominic, my husband. We uh— left first and Sophie stayed with the rest of the group.”
And there it is again. That feeling. The one that starts low in your stomach. The one that crawls upward slowly, tightening your chest. Like something inside you is trying to scream a warning before your mind is ready to hear it.
A Gut feeling.
“Have you spoken to the staff at the hospital?” I ask carefully.
Nadia nods weakly.
“I called,” she says. “They said she never showed up for her shift.”
She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand.
“And I spoke with one of her coworkers—Emily,” she adds. “She said they saw Sophie about two days ago for dinner and they all went their separate ways after.”
The moment presses in, heavy and tight.
“But that’s just it,” Nadia continues quietly. “No one else has seen her after that.”
My stomach sinks.
“Do you know if there’s anywhere else she might have gone?” I ask. “Any other family member? A friend maybe?”
Nadia shakes her head.
“No,” she says quietly. “It’s just me and her.”
A lump forms in my throat.
“What about her husba— ex husband?” I ask.
“I called him that night too,” Nadia says. “Right after she didn’t show up.” Her voice softens. “He’s in Australia. Halfway across the world.” She wipes at her eyes again. “We FaceTimed. He was with his friends hiking somewhere out in the woods.” She shakes her head. “So I know he has nothing to do with this.”
Her voice cracks. “I just… I don’t know where she is.”
For a moment she looks completely lost, like the ground beneath her feet has disappeared. Instinctively, I step forward and wrap my arms around her.
She freezes for a second.
Then she hugs me back tightly.
“I’m so scared,” she whispers.
“It’s going to be okay,” I tell her softly. “We’re going to find Sophie.”
Nadia’s grip tightens around me as she starts crying again. Not the quiet tears from before, this time it’s deeper. Like she’s finally letting something out, like she’s been holding this fear inside because no one else believes her.
Because everyone else thinks Sophie simply left. But Nadia knows. Her sister wouldn’t just disappear. The drive home drags, heavy and unrelenting. The road stretches endlessly in front of me, but my mind is somewhere else entirely. My hands grip the steering wheel tighter than they should as the same thought circles my mind again and again.
