Katelyn’s POV

The apartment was quiet that evening. The kind of quiet that feels too heavy, too hollow, like the world had exhaled and forgotten to breathe back in.

I sat at my desk, laptop open, fingers hovering above the keyboard as the soft hum of the ceiling fan filled the room.

The glow from the screen cast long shadows across my notes, newspaper clippings, and voice recorder.

My heart ached just looking at Rachel’s photo, tucked into the corner of my pinboard. Her smile felt like it ...