“No one is ever going to lock you in.”

“Can I leave it open?”

“As wide as you like.”

That night she slept with her door open and the hallway light on.

I sat on the sofa until dawn, listening for every movement, terrified by how fragile safety could feel even when the danger had passed.

At six in the morning, my phone rang.

Detective Bell was calling.

“We’ve identified the belongings in the second freezer,” he said.