Sandra trusted him implicitly. She never questioned whether these scattered oddities held a shape. She assumed the world was messy and records imperfect. But now, surrounded by tense nurses and quiet officers, each tiny memory began to pulse like a warning she should have noticed sooner.
Months ago, Jake had come home from a business trip unusually quiet, moving through the doorway like someone carrying something heavy inside him. Sandra greeted him warmly, but he offered only a distracted smile before looking away. The shift was subtle, but it clung to her memory now with unsettling clarity.