Run: 2026-04-24-01KQ041Q5SNNTE1Y4W57QB71FV

# Alborn Café Isabella sat at the corner table of *Maggie's Brew*, cradling her camera like a lifeline. She scrolled through the photographs she'd taken that morning—rolling fields, the old church steeple, the river bend at the edge of town. She paused on one image, her brow furrowing. Then she looked up as a shadow fell across her table. Hunter pulled out the chair across from her and sat down without ceremony. --- **Hunter:** "Morning. Name's Detective Hunter. I'm investigating some missing persons cases here in town. I'm told you've been staying at the bed and breakfast on Maple Street?" **Isabella:** *(startled, clutching her camera tighter)* "Mi scusi... non capisco. Sono qui da poco, non parlo inglese." **Hunter:** *(leaning forward, squinting slightly)* "...I'm sorry?" **Isabella:** *(speaking faster, gesturing with one hand)* "Lei è un poliziotto? Cosa è successo? Le persone di cui parla... sono scomparse? È per questo che qui tutti sembrano così nervosi?" **Hunter:** *(sitting back, rubbing the back of his neck)* "Right. Okay. You... don't speak English. Great." **Isabella:** *(pulling out her phone, frantically tapping at a translation app)* "Aspetti... aspetti un momento..." **Hunter:** "Take your time. I'm not in a hurry. Well, that's a lie—I am in a hurry. But I'll wait." **Isabella:** *(holding up her phone, a robotic voice translating)* "Missing... people. Who... disappeared?" **Hunter:** *(nodding slowly, pointing at the phone)* "Okay, we're getting somewhere. Yes. Missing people. Three of them, actually. Over the last two weeks. You've been in town for...?" **Isabella:** *(typing again, phone speaks)* "I am here... five days. Study abroad. I take... photographs." **Hunter:** "Photographs." *(he straightens, a flicker of interest crossing his face)* "Of the town? Of the surrounding area?" **Isabella:** *(nodding eagerly, turning her camera toward him)* "Sì! Guardi—ho delle foto del fiume, della chiesa, dei campi fuori città. Fotografo paesaggi, è il mio progetto di studio." **Hunter:** "I didn't catch a single word of that." **Isabella:** *(sighing, typing quickly on her phone)* "I show you. Photos. River. Church. Fields outside town." **Hunter:** "Fields outside town. Which direction?" **Isabella:** *(pointing northeast, typing)* "That way. Near the... apple orchard? Big trees. Very quiet." **Hunter:** *(his expression sharpening)* "Henderson's orchard. That's close to where the second person was last seen." **Isabella:** *(her face paling, typing with trembling fingers)* "Second person? There are... more than one?" **Hunter:** "Three. Like I said." *(he studied her reaction carefully)* "You didn't know?" **Isabella:** *(shaking her head, her voice dropping to a whisper in Italian)* "Tre persone... mio Dio. E io che ho camminato là fuori da sola, con la macchina fotografica, senza sapere niente..." **Hunter:** "You're going to have to type that one out." **Isabella:** *(typing, phone translating)* "I walked there... alone. I did not know. I am... frightened." **Hunter:** *(leaning forward, his voice low and steady)* "Listen. I don't want to scare you, but I also don't want you wandering around alone out there without knowing what's going on. Stick to the main streets. Don't go out after dark. And if you notice anything—anything at all—someone following you, something out of place in your photographs, a stranger who doesn't belong—you come find me. I'll be at the sheriff's office on Main Street. Can you remember that?" **Isabella:** *(typing)* "Main Street. Sheriff's office. Yes. I remember." **Hunter:** "Good." **Isabella:** *(suddenly turning her camera around, showing him a photo on the display—a misty field, the orchard in the background, and what appeared to be a dark figure standing between the rows of trees)* "Guardi questa foto. L'ho scattata ieri mattina presto. Vede quella sagoma? Non mi ero accorta di nessuno quando ho scattato. Solo dopo, guardandola..." **Hunter:** *(taking the camera gently, studying the image, his jaw tightening)* "...Who is that?" **Isabella:** *(typing, her hands shaking)* "I do not know. I did not see anyone. Only in the photo. After." **Hunter:** *(staring at the screen for a long moment)* "I'm going to need a copy of this." **Isabella:** *(nodding)* "Sì, certo. Posso mandargliela, se mi dà un indirizzo email o..." **Hunter:** *(blank stare)* **Isabella:** *(typing)* "Yes. I send to you. Email." **Hunter:** "Right." *(he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a card, sliding it across the table)* "That's got my email and my number on it. Send it as soon as you can." **Isabella:** *(taking the card, nodding)* "Subito. Now." **Hunter:** "And Isabella—" **Isabella:** *(looking up, surprised he remembered her name)* **Hunter:** "Be careful." His phone buzzed sharply in his pocket. He pulled it out, glancing at the screen, and his expression shifted—something tight and urgent settling over his features. **Hunter:** *(answering, standing up from the table)* "Hunter here... When? ...Where exactly?" *(a long pause)* "I'm five minutes out. Don't let anyone touch anything." He ended the call, already reaching for his jacket. **Hunter:** "I have to go." **Isabella:** *(standing too, alarmed, typing quickly)* "What happened? Another person?" **Hunter:** *(pausing at the edge of the table, looking back at her for just a moment)* "Just send me that photo. And stay in town today." He was gone before she could type another word. Through the café window, she watched him climb into an unmarked sedan and pull away from the curb, tires crunching gravel. Isabella sank back into her chair and looked down at her camera. The figure in the orchard stared back at her from the screen—dark, still, and unknowable. She whispered to herself in Italian, barely audible above the hum of the café: "Chi sei tu..."