Chapter 23 THE MISSING INTERN
POV: Selena
My hands were shaking before I even sat down.
The word threat kept echoing in my head, loud and relentless, as if it had been stamped into my bones. Cameron’s voice still rang in my ears. You are no longer just collateral. You are a threat.
I did not want to be a threat. I wanted to go back to being invisible. But that choice was already gone.
“Selena,” Adrian said sharply. “Sit. You’re going to fall.”
I ignored him and opened my laptop anyway.
I needed to know who she was.
If there had been another intern before me, then she was the map of what came next. I could not afford not to look.
Cameron stood near the window, pacing like a caged animal. “Her name was Jessica Martinez,” he said. “Twenty three years old. Graduate student. Interned with Thornton’s policy advisory firm.”
My stomach clenched.
“Jessica Martinez,” I repeated, typing her name into the search bar.
Nothing.
No breaking headlines. No viral hashtags. No national outrage.
Just a few old social media profiles that had not been updated in years.
“She vanished quietly,” Cameron continued. “No signs of struggle. No ransom. No official suspects.”
Adrian leaned over my shoulder. “That’s not disappearance. That’s erasure.”
My fingers hovered over the keyboard. “People don’t just vanish.”
“They do when powerful people want silence,” Cameron replied.
I clicked deeper.
Archived pages. Cached links. Forgotten corners of the internet.
There it was.
A university newsletter from two years ago.
“Outstanding Policy Intern Jessica Martinez Takes Leave of Absence.”
I felt sick.
“Leave of absence,” I whispered. “That’s the lie they told.”
Adrian read over my shoulder. His jaw tightened. “They wrapped it in politeness.”
I scrolled.
Jessica’s photo appeared. Dark hair. Serious eyes. A careful smile.
She looked normal. Smart. Driven.
She looked like me.
“Why didn’t her family fight?” I asked quietly.
Cameron stopped pacing. “They did. At first.”
He pulled out his phone and handed it to me.
A local article appeared. Small publication. Buried.
“Family Declines Further Comment on Missing Daughter.”
“They were paid,” Cameron said. “Or threatened. Or both.”
My chest tightened. “So the system just… let it go?”
“Yes,” Cameron replied. “Because the system was part of it.”
The room felt too quiet.
I clicked into Jessica’s old social media.
Her last post was a quote.
Truth is expensive. Lies are cheaper.
I swallowed hard.
“She knew,” I said.
“Yes,” Cameron replied. “And she was trying to tell someone.”
I searched again, this time for her academic work.
A dead link popped up.
“Blog unavailable,” I read aloud.
My pulse jumped.
“Wait,” I said. “This isn’t gone. It’s hidden.”
Adrian straightened. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” I said slowly, “this link was not deleted. It was disabled.”
I copied the URL into a text editor and began stripping it down, piece by piece.
Adrian watched me closely. “How do you know how to do this?”
“I taught myself,” I said. “Because people hide things.”
Cameron leaned in. “You’re good at this.”
“I had to be,” I replied.
The page flickered.
Then loaded.
My breath caught.
A plain page appeared. No images. No ads.
Just text.
At the top, a title.
If I Am Gone
My hands went cold.
“This is it,” I whispered.
Adrian’s voice was tight. “Selena, are you sure you want to read this?”
“No,” I said honestly. “But I have to.”
I scrolled.
The words were careful. Controlled. Terrified.
If you are reading this, something has happened to me.
My chest burned.
I did not leave by choice.
Adrian’s hand closed over mine.
I discovered financial manipulation tied directly to Senator James Thornton.
Cameron sucked in a sharp breath.
When I confronted him indirectly, I was warned.
I kept reading, my vision blurring.
They told me I was smart but naive.
That line shattered something inside me.
I was offered money to stay quiet.
My throat tightened. “She got the same offer.”
Adrian nodded grimly. “And refused.”
I believe Senator Thornton has connections inside federal agencies.
I froze.
“What did she say?” Adrian asked.
I swallowed. “She says he has people everywhere.”
I scrolled further.
If this publishes, it means I am dead or disappeared.
My hands trembled violently now.
Do not trust the police.
My heart slammed.
Do not trust the FBI.
Adrian went still.
Trust no one connected to his circle.
The room felt like it was closing in.
If you want proof, follow the shell companies.
My breath came shallow.
They lead to violence, not just theft.
I looked up at Adrian, panic burning in my chest. “She knew.”
“Yes,” he said softly. “And they stopped her.”
Cameron ran a hand through his hair. “This was scheduled.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The post,” Cameron said. “It was set to publish automatically if she stopped logging in.”
I stared at the screen.
“They missed it,” I whispered.
“They thought they erased everything,” Cameron said. “They didn’t think she’d plan for death.”
Tears slipped down my face before I could stop them.
“She was alone,” I said. “She did everything right, and she was still alone.”
Adrian turned to me fully now. “You are not alone.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
I wiped my face. “That’s what she didn’t have.”
I scrolled to the bottom.
A final paragraph.
If you are reading this and you are an intern, leave.
My breath caught.
If you are like me, you will not.
My hands shook so badly I had to grip the edge of the table.
Be careful. Be quiet. Be smarter than I was.
I felt like she was looking straight at me.
They are dangerous.
The last line loaded slowly, like the internet itself was hesitating.
Then it appeared.
Trust no one.
The room was silent.
Then Adrian spoke, his voice low and furious.
“He murdered her.”
“Yes,” Cameron said. “And he would do it again.”
I closed the laptop slowly.
My mind raced.
“She tried to warn people,” I said. “And no one listened.”
Adrian’s eyes burned. “We will listen.”
Cameron nodded. “And we will finish what she started.”
My fear hardened into something else.
Resolve.
“She died thinking she failed,” I said quietly. “I won’t let that be true.”
Adrian stepped closer. “Selena, this is bigger than us.”
“I know,” I replied. “That’s why we cannot stop.”
Cameron checked his phone. “The post just went live.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“It was delayed,” he said. “Now it’s public.”
A chill ran through me.
Adrian’s phone buzzed violently in his hand.
He read the screen and went pale.
“What?” I demanded.
“They know,” he said.
“Who?” I asked.
“Thornton,” Adrian replied. “And anyone protecting him.”
My heart pounded.
“What do we do?” I whispered.
Adrian met my gaze, steady and fierce. “We expose everything.”
Cameron’s voice dropped. “And we move fast.”
I looked at the screen one last time.
Jessica’s words stared back at me like a warning carved in stone.
If you are reading this, they got to me.
I swallowed hard.
They were not going to get to me.
Not without a fight.
And not without the truth tearing them down with me.