Chapter 2

Noon flight.

I didn't go to Chicago.

I went to Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The plane landed at 4 PM local time.

Chiang Mai's air was hot and humid, the smell hitting me made me momentarily dizzy.

The last photo Lily sent me was taken in this city.

She stood in front of a mango juice stand, smiling like a child.

I had no time for sentiment.

I went straight to the hotel where Lily had stayed.

I'd already looked it up before departing.

Before leaving, Lily had shared a screenshot of her hotel reservation with me—Lotus Garden Boutique Hotel on the edge of the old city.

At the front desk, I showed the receptionist Lily's photo and asked in English.

"This girl stayed at your hotel a month ago. Do you remember her?"

The receptionist looked at the photo and shook her head.

"Her name is Lily. American." I added.

The receptionist checked the computer and nodded.

"We have a record. She stayed three nights, then didn't extend or check out. Her luggage is still in our storage."

My heart clenched hard.

Luggage still here. Person gone.

I steadied myself and asked the question I was most afraid to ask.

"A month ago, was there also an American man staying at your hotel?"

I handed over Nathan's photo.

The receptionist looked at it and checked the computer again.

Then she looked up, expression hesitant.

"Yes. He stayed five nights."

Five nights.

Longer than Lily's three.

"Which room was he in?"

"312."

"And Lily?"

"315."

Same floor.

Two rooms apart.

I stood at the front desk, my mind buzzing.

My first thought was the most cliché one: they were having an affair.

Lily and Nathan had booked adjacent rooms in Thailand.

But as soon as that thought emerged, another voice slapped it down.

Impossible.

Lily hated Nathan.

Not the polite-on-the-surface, disgusted-underneath kind of hate.

The confrontational, no-mercy kind.

Every time I brought Nathan to gatherings, Lily barely acknowledged him.

Once when she'd had too much to drink, she said directly to Nathan's face, "Claire's great at everything except her taste in men."

Nathan's face had turned green.

After that, they never looked at each other properly again.

How could two people like that be having an affair in Thailand?

Then why was he staying next door to her?

What exactly was he doing?

I took a deep breath and looked at the receptionist.

"I need to review your hotel's security footage from that time."

The receptionist looked uncomfortable. "That we'd need to get the manager's approval."

"Please."

"And we might need police cooperation."

"My best friend is missing."

I interrupted her, voice calm but hands shaking.

"For a month now. No body, no trace. Your hotel might be one of the last places she appeared. Do you think your manager won't cooperate?"

The receptionist went quiet looking at me.

Then she picked up the phone.

Twenty minutes later, the hotel's security supervisor took me to the monitoring room.

The monitoring room was small, three walls covered with screens.

The security supervisor pulled up footage from a month ago, starting from the day Lily checked in.

I sat in the chair, staring at the screen, palms cold with sweat.

Day one.

Lily dragged her suitcase into the hotel lobby and checked in at the front desk.

She wore a white sundress, hair in a ponytail, chatting cheerfully with the receptionist.

My eyes suddenly grew hot.

Bottom right corner of the frame, lobby entrance.

A man pushed through the door.

Dark blue T-shirt, baseball cap, mask.

From his build, his gait.

It was Nathan.