They set off together across the quiet fields behind the neighborhood. Flashlights bobbed as the sky dimmed. The wind whistled through the grass, cool and urgent, as if urging them forward. Every gust seemed to whisper one name over and over: Coco.
As they neared the trees, a silence settled over them. The forest stood like a wall, dark and dense. Lisa hesitated at the edge, her breath shallow. Somewhere beyond the pines and tangled brush, Coco could be alive. Or gone. But she wouldn’t know unless she stepped in.