Chapter 20 · Moonlight in the Morgue

The morgue smells like bleach and something else. Something wrong.

I'm standing in the doorway and Ethan's hand is on my back, not pushing, just there. Like he's ready to pull me out if I bolt. The fluorescent lights are buzzing and one of them keeps flickering, throwing shadows across the metal tables.

"She's in the third drawer," Ethan says. His voice is flat. Too flat.

I don't move. Can't move. Because if I walk in there, if I open that drawer, then it's real. Mara's not missing anymore. She's just gone.

"Charlotte."

"I know." I step forward. The floor's sticky. Someone didn't mop properly or maybe they did and it's just always like this. My sneakers make this awful peeling sound with every step.

The drawers are along the left wall. Stainless steel. Numbers printed in black. Three is right in the middle, eye level. I reach for the handle and my hand's shaking so bad I have to use both.

"Wait." Ethan moves past me. "Let me."

"No." I yank the drawer open before he can stop me.

It slides out smooth. Too smooth. Like it's been used a lot.

There's a body under the white sheet. Small.