When Sergeant Ryan Thompson stepped off the military bus in the small town of Maplewood after nearly ten months deployed overseas, he carried only one thought in his heart: To hug his twelve-year-old daughter, Emma.
He had replayed that moment in his mind for weeks:
Emma running toward him, arms open, laughter breaking across the old white house like sunlight.
But that moment never came.
The station was empty.
No Sarah.
No Emma.
Only the dry afternoon wind brushing past rows of quiet shops.