The Missing Neighbor

"The phone is ringing," Diane said.

She wasn't looking at me. She was looking at the security feed on her phone.

"What?" I asked.

"Your phone," she said, finally raising her eyes. "It's ringing. In your bag."

I looked down at my clutch. The one I had grabbed from the table. It was vibrating against my leg.

I opened it.

The screen lit up.

*Unknown Caller.*

I stared at it.

"Answer it," Diane said. "It's probably Mark."

My stomach lurched.

Mark.

I had forgotten about Mark.

I pressed answer.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?" Mark's voice. Frantic. Breathless.

"I'm at the Community Center," I said. "With Diane."

"Get out," he said. "Get out now."

"What?"

"She knows, Becca. She knows you have the drive."

I looked up at Diane.

She was smiling.

It wasn't a warm smile. It wasn't the motherly smile she used when she brought casseroles.

It was a shark's smile.

"Mark?" I said into the phone.

"I tried to stop her," Mark said. "But she... she has leverage. She has everything."

"What leverage?"

"The baby," he whispered. "She has Leo."

My heart stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"She took him," Mark said. "While you were at the party. She has him."

I dropped the phone.

It clattered onto the tile floor.

"You took my son?" I whispered.

Diane took a sip of her wine.

"I didn't take him," she said. "I secured him. For his own protection."

She stood up.

"You're unstable, Becca. We all see it. The mess. The paranoia. The outbursts. You're not fit to be a mother."

She walked toward me.

"But we can help you. The Enclave takes care of its own."

She reached out a hand.

"Give me the drive," she said. "And you can see him."

I stared at her hand. Manicured. Perfect.

The hand that had held my baby.

Rage, hot and white, exploded in my chest.

"Where is he?" I screamed.

"Safe," she said. "For now."

She took another step.

"The drive, Becca."

I reached into my bag. My fingers brushed the cool metal of the USB drive.

I pulled it out.

"Here," I said.

I held it out.

She smiled. Reached for it.

I dropped it.

And I stepped on it.

*Crunch.*

The plastic shattered under my heel.

Diane stared at the broken pieces on the floor. Her smile vanished.

"You stupid girl," she hissed.

"I don't need the drive," I said. "I saw the files. I saw everything."

"No one will believe you," she said. "You're just a hysterical woman who lost her mind."

"Maybe," I said. "But I'm a hysterical woman who knows where the bodies are buried."

I looked at the server room door.

"And I know who buried them."

Diane laughed. A cold, mirthless sound.

"You think you can threaten me? Here? In my house?"

"This isn't your house," I said. "It's a prison. And I'm breaking out."

I turned and ran.

Not toward the exit.

Toward the stairs.

"Stop her!" Diane yelled.

I heard footsteps behind me. Heavy. Fast.

The guard.

I scrambled up the stairs. My lungs burned. My legs felt like lead.

I reached the top. The lobby was empty. The party was still going on outside by the pool. I could hear the music. The laughter.

I ran to the front doors. Locked.

I tried the side door. Locked.

"There's no way out, Becca," Diane's voice echoed from the stairwell.

I looked around.

The glass wall overlooking the pool.

I grabbed a heavy bronze statue from a side table.

I swung it.

*Smash.*

The glass shattered.

I climbed through the hole.

I landed in the bushes outside. Scratched. Bleeding.

I ran.

Through the crowd of neighbors. Past the barbecue. Past the DJ booth.

They stared at me. A wild woman, covered in glass and blood.

"Becca?" someone asked.

I ignored them.

I ran to the street.

My car was gone. Mark must have taken it.

I ran toward my house.

"Leo!" I screamed.

I burst through my front door.

Silence.

The house was empty. The crib was empty.

"Leo!"

I ran to the kitchen.

There was a note on the island.

*We're watching.*

I stared at the camera in the smoke detector. The little green light blinked at me.

*Blink. Blink. Blink.*

"I know you can hear me!" I shouted at the ceiling. "Give him back!"

My phone buzzed.

I pulled it out.

A video message. From Diane.

I opened it.

It was a live feed.

A room. White walls. No windows.

A crib.

And Leo. Sleeping.

And standing over him...

Dr. Thorne.

He looked at the camera. He smiled.

"He's resting comfortably, Becca," he said. "Just like you should be."

He held up a syringe.

"We just need to calm him down a little. He's very fussy."

"No!" I screamed at the phone. "Don't touch him!"

"Bring us the backup," Diane's voice said over the video. "We know you made a copy. Bring it to the server room. Alone."

The video cut out.

I stared at the black screen.

A copy?

I didn't have a copy.

I had destroyed the drive.

But they didn't know that.

They thought I was smarter than I was.

I looked at the laptop on the counter. Mark's laptop.

I opened it.

The folder was still there. *Sentinel_Beta.*

I could make a copy.

But it would take time.

And Leo didn't have time.

I needed help.

I needed Gavin.

I grabbed the burner phone from the diaper box.

I texted him.

*They have Leo. Server room. Now.*

He replied instantly.

*On my way.*

I ran back to the Community Center.

I didn't go through the front door.

I went to the back. To the ventilation shaft Gavin had shown me on the schematics.

I pulled the grate loose. I crawled inside.

It was tight. dusty. Claustrophobic.

I crawled until I saw light.

A vent cover. Looking down into the server room.

Diane was there. And the guard.

And Mark.

He was standing in the corner, looking pale. Sick.

"She's not coming," he said.

"She'll come," Diane said. "She's a mother."

I pushed the vent cover. It fell.

*Clang.*

They looked up.

I dropped down.

I landed on the guard. My knee hit his shoulder. He went down hard.

I scrambled up.

Diane pulled a gun.

A small, silver pistol.

"Don't move," she said.

I froze.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"Safe," she said. "For now."

She aimed the gun at my head.

"The backup, Becca."

"I don't have it," I said.

"Liar."

She cocked the hammer.

"Mark," I said. "Help me."

Mark looked at me. Then at Diane. Then at the floor.

"I can't," he whispered.

"He's your son!" I screamed.

"He's better off without us," Mark said. "Without... this."

I stared at him.

He was broken. Completely broken.

"Goodbye, Becca," Diane said.

The lights went out.

Total darkness.

Then... a sound.

*Thump. Thump. Thump.*

Like a heartbeat. Amplified.

It was coming from the speakers.

Then a voice.

"Attention residents. This is a security alert."

It wasn't Diane's voice. It wasn't the automated system.

It was Gavin.

"We have a breach in the server room. Initiating lockdown."

The doors slammed shut. Magnetic locks engaged.

Red emergency lights flashed.

Diane spun around, waving the gun.

"What is this?" she screamed.

"I told you," I said. "I have friends."

The monitors on the wall flickered.

Then they changed.

Instead of the resident feeds...

It was Diane.

footage of her.

In her office. taking money from a safe.

In a hotel room. With Dr. Thorne.

In the server room. Deleting files.

"Turn it off!" she shrieked. She fired the gun at the screens. *Bang. Bang.*

Glass shattered.

But the images kept playing on the other screens.

"Everyone can see this," Gavin's voice said over the intercom. "We're live, Diane. Facebook. YouTube. The local news."

Diane lowered the gun. She looked at the camera in the corner.

"No," she whispered.

I lunged.

I tackled her.

The gun skidded across the floor.

We rolled. She scratched my face. I punched her. Hard.

I pinned her down.

"Where is he?" I screamed. "Where is Leo?"

"Go to hell," she spat.

I grabbed her hair. I slammed her head against the floor.

"Where is he?"

"Room 402," Mark said.

I looked up.

He was holding the gun. Pointing it at Diane.

"Room 402," he repeated. "In the old asylum wing. Behind the gym."

"Mark," Diane said. "Put it down."

"You promised," Mark said. "You promised he wouldn't be hurt."

"He's fine," she said. "He's just leverage."

"He's a baby!" Mark shouted.

He looked at me.

"Go," he said. "Get him."

"Come with me," I said.

He shook his head.

"Someone has to keep her here."

He looked at the door.

"Go, Becca. Run."

I got up.

I looked at him one last time.

"Thank you," I whispered.

I ran.

The doors were locked, but the emergency release was blinking. Gavin had unlocked it for me.

I pushed through.

I ran to the gym. To the back hallway.

To the door marked *402*.

It was locked.

I kicked it. Once. Twice.

The wood splintered.

I pushed it open.

Dr. Thorne was there. Holding the syringe.

He looked up, startled.

"Get away from him!" I screamed.

I grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall.

I swung it.

It hit him in the ribs. He grunted and fell.

I dropped the extinguisher.

I ran to the crib.

Leo was there. Sleeping.

I touched his cheek. Warm. Breathing.

I picked him up. I held him so tight I thought I might crush him.

"I've got you," I sobbed. "I've got you."

I walked out of the room.

I walked out of the Community Center.

Police sirens were wailing in the distance.

I walked to the street.

Neighbors were coming out of their houses. Staring at their phones. Staring at me.

They knew.

They all knew.

I saw Chloe running toward me.

"Becca!"

She hugged me. Careful of the baby.

"You did it," she said. "You burned it down."

I looked back at the Community Center.

Mark was still in there. With Diane.

And the gun.

*Bang.*

A single shot.

Then silence.

I closed my eyes.

I held my son.

And I walked away.

Into the night.

Into the uncertainty.

Into the quiet.

But it wasn't quiet.

Not really.

If you listened closely