Welcome to Case Close Close.

You're listening to Bye-Babe, by Kerala Lovering,

narrated by Helen Laser and Carissa Vacker.

Prolog October 13th, 2023.

The baby stops fussing, settling into my arms like a sleepy puppy, the soft weight of her.

Her lips pucker, then relax, her little chest rising and falling, almost

to the rhythm of my own. She is back to sleep, her face peaceful as a porcelain dolls.

That wasn't hard.

The living room window is open.

Thivered voices carry in from the terrace of the apartment above, commotion.

Mania. I shouldn't be surprised. I recognize the sound of Cassie's

screaming, obviously. I've heard her scream dozens of times, horror movies. She love hates them. The afternoon we

picnicked upstate and she got stung by a whole swarm of bees. The time in high

school when she walked in on her ex-boyfriend Kyle and our semi-friend Ashton,

Manically fucking in her basement during a party.

Manically fucking was the way Cassie described it afterwards, so that's how I remember it.

Anyway, Cassie is screaming now the way she did then,

except even more psychotically this time.

And who can blame her?

Her baby is gone. I picture her one story up, her blue eyes

swimming with tears, already swollen even though it's only been 15 minutes

since Ella went missing, five since anyone noticed.

...