Olivia’s eyes were wide.
Then she reached into the pocket.
“Look what else was in there.”
She handed me an old phone with a black screen and a cracked red case.
I recognized that case immediately. Nick had used it for years before telling everyone he had lost that phone.
At home, I plugged it in and waited almost an hour before the screen finally came on.
It did not ask for a passcode. Either Nick had never set one, or the old phone was damaged enough to forget how to keep secrets.
My hands began shaking before I even opened the gallery.
There was almost nothing on it. No recent texts. No useful apps. No call history. Only one surviving photograph, taken on the day Gabriel disappeared.
I opened it and nearly dropped the phone.
Gabriel was standing behind the cabin beside Nick’s truck at dawn.
He was wearing the jacket Olivia had found.
He was not near the lake.
He was not standing in rain.
The sky behind him was pale and clear.
Nick had told police Gabriel woke early, went down to the water, and vanished after a storm rolled in. But in that photo, there was no storm, and Gabriel was staring straight at the camera with a tense expression that made my stomach twist.
Then I zoomed in.
He was holding an envelope tightly against his chest.
see you next post
