THE AFTERNOON DWINDLED AND DISAPPEARED before Hailey looked out the double windows into the courtyard again, and when she did, darkness was settling across the Village. The building was silent—no more muffled noises seeping up through hardwood floors. The ring of office phones, doors below opening and closing, muffled laughter of receptionists and dental hygienists and their patients, even the occasional strains of dentist-office Muzak had all ceased for the day. Hailey clicked off one of the floor lamps near the foyer and walked through the office, straightening things here and there, wondering uneasily why Melissa never called back. It wasn’t necessarily uncharacteristic of her to ignore a message—but she usually kept her appointments, and when she couldn’t, she always called to cancel. According to the microwave’s clock, glowing green in the darkened kitchen, it was already six fifteen. Hailey dialed over to Dana to ask if she’d like to have dinner, deciding to forgo running the East River in lieu of companionship tonight.
