Inside the car, the scent became unavoidable. Now that I wasn’t distracted by the smell of popcorn and diesel from the carnival rides, the “spoiled meat” odor Camila had described filled the cabin. It was thick, sweet, and metallic. It was the smell of a basement that hadn’t seen light in years. It was the smell of death.
“Sophie,” I said, looking at her through the rearview mirror as I drove out of the back entrance of the school, successfully bypassing Elena for a moment. “Where is your mommy?”
Sophie was staring at the plastic bag Camila had pulled from the backpack. The stained blouse. “Mommy went to sleep in the garden,” she whispered. “But she didn’t take her shoes. She always takes her shoes.”
“Who put her there?”
Sophie didn’t answer. Instead, she pointed to her backpack. “The bag. My mommy’s phone is in the bag. I hid it. Elena looked for it, but I hid it in the lining.”
I pulled over into a crowded grocery store parking lot, blocks away from the school. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely put the car in park. I reached back, took the backpack, and ripped at the inner lining. Tucked deep inside, wrapped in a piece of newspaper, was a smartphone with a cracked screen. It was dead.
“Camila, give me your portable charger from your bag,” I commanded.
As the phone flickered to life, the lock screen appeared. It was a photo of Sophie and a bright-eyed woman with a gap-toothed smile, laughing under a sprinkler. The contrast between that woman and the hollow-eyed child in my backseat was devastating.
Then, the notifications started rolling in. Dozens of them. All from the same contact: “SISTER.”
Where are you? Why aren’t you answering? I’m coming over if you don’t call me back.
And the last one, sent five days ago: I called the police. They’re doing a wellness check.
