Hours passed in thick, oppressive silence. He drifted through the house, stopping occasionally to touch a sweater that still smelled like her shampoo or glance at a half-read book she’d left on the side table. Every familiar object sharpened the ache inside him.
When the phone finally rang again, the room was already sunk in dusk. Evan answered before the first vibration finished. The officer’s tone was steady but carried a gravity that tightened every muscle in his body.