Unraveling the Threads

The city's skyline glittered in the distance, its towering glass buildings gleaming like jagged shards against the setting sun. But inside the small, dimly lit office, Eliza felt a sense of confinement that no amount of city lights could dispel. The walls seemed to pulse with an eerie tension, a sensation she couldn't shake, no matter how many times she shifted in her chair.

She had always been a master of controlling her emotions, of burying her fears beneath a layer of professionalism. But now, the case was getting under her skin in ways she didn't like. The more she learned about Amelia Wong's disappearance, the more disturbing the details became. There was something lurking beneath the surface of this investigation—something insidious.

Eliza pulled up the file Pierce had sent her. The employee linked to the erased social media accounts was named Rachel Tan. A mid-level manager at the social media platform, Tan had worked there for nearly five years. On paper, she was nothing more than an ordinary employee—no criminal record, no history of unusual behavior. But that was the problem. People like Rachel Tan didn't just vanish without leaving a trace. And yet, everything she had done after her abrupt resignation seemed to disappear into thin air.

The more Eliza scrolled, the more unsettled she became. Rachel Tan had been heavily involved in the platform's internal security systems—an odd position for someone with no prior background in cybersecurity. She had access to sensitive information, to the very heart of the platform's data, including logs of deleted posts and user activity. It didn't take a detective to see where this was going. If Tan was involved in erasing the post about Amelia's disappearance, she had access to much more than just one victim's file.

Eliza's phone buzzed again, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was a new message from Pierce.

"I've found something," it read. "Rachel Tan's resignation wasn't voluntary. She was forced to leave. And I think I know why."

Eliza's heart skipped a beat. She quickly tapped out a response: "What do you mean? How do you know?"

Pierce's reply came swiftly: "I found a report filed by one of her colleagues. A whistleblower, if you will. Tan had been acting strangely in the weeks leading up to her departure—isolating herself, accessing files she didn't need, and making cryptic comments about 'things that shouldn't be seen.' Whoever forced her out covered their tracks well, but I've managed to piece together enough to know that she wasn't just dealing with some technical glitch or personal issue. There's something much darker going on."

Eliza's mind raced. "So Rachel Tan was involved in something bigger than we thought. But what does it have to do with Amelia?"

"That's the part I can't figure out yet," Pierce admitted. "But I'm digging deeper. There's a pattern to her movements, something that ties her to other cases, other disappearances. I think she might be the key to everything."

Eliza felt a surge of determination flood her chest. This was it. They were finally onto something solid.

But then, her phone rang. The name on the screen made her hesitate. Detective Mark Rinaldi.

She had met Rinaldi only a few days ago when he'd been assigned to help her with the investigation, but something about the detective didn't sit right with her. He was sharp, no doubt about that, but there was an underlying coldness to him—an almost clinical detachment that made Eliza question his motivations. She answered the call, her voice steady but guarded.

"Eliza," Rinaldi's voice crackled through the phone, low and urgent. "We need to talk. It's about Rachel Tan."

She froze. "What about her?"

"We found her," Rinaldi said, his voice tightening. "But it's not good. She's dead."

The world seemed to tilt sideways. Eliza's grip on the phone tightened. "What do you mean, 'she's dead'?"

Rinaldi exhaled sharply. "We found her body this morning. It's... It's not like anything we've ever seen before. She's been... mutilated. But there's something else. A message, written in blood."

Eliza's pulse pounded in her ears. "What did the message say?"

"It's not what you think," Rinaldi said, his tone heavy. "It wasn't some kind of revenge or personal vendetta. It was a warning. Someone's sending a message, Eliza. And we're all in their sights now."

The line went dead, and Eliza stood there, staring at the screen, her mind spiraling into chaos. The case had just taken a dark turn. Rachel Tan was dead, and now, the stakes were higher than ever. But who was behind this? Who had the power to not only erase posts and control the narrative but also send a message so gruesome that it sent shockwaves through the very core of the investigation?

Her heart raced as she thought about the implications. This was bigger than she had ever imagined. Whoever was behind this knew how to play the game—how to cover their tracks, manipulate the media, and eliminate anyone who threatened to uncover their secrets. Eliza had walked into a world where the lines between right and wrong were blurred, and the only thing that mattered was survival.

She shook herself out of her daze. This wasn't the time for fear. She had to keep going. The answers were still out there. She had to find them before anyone else got hurt.

Eliza quickly gathered her things and left the office. The night was closing in, but there was no time to waste. The trail was growing colder with every minute, and she wasn't about to let Rachel Tan's death be in vain.