Brody Law. Carol Ericson

      Sean twisted the handle of the door and inched it open. He’d stepped into the office, but Elise was no longer watching him.

      A slight movement on the floor to her right caught her eye. Her gaze darted to the tile in front of what she knew was the bathroom floor.

      A trickle of dark liquid meandered from the crack beneath the door. As if in a trance, Elise stepped over it to push open the bathroom door. The door swung freely and then stopped.

      She heard Sean’s voice coming from the office, words she couldn’t comprehend, words coming at her in a fog.

      She opened her mouth and managed a small sigh. She ran her tongue along her teeth and tried again.

      This time she managed a scream, a scream so loud it echoed and bounced off the walls of the small bathroom where Courtney’s lifeless form couldn’t hear her at all.