Beneath an oak tree behind the old community park, she and her best friend, Jonah, had buried a time capsule. Inside, she remembered, was a brass key. Jonah had called it his “way out,” though back then, it sounded like one of his grand adventures.

They had promised to dig it up together when they were grown. Ellie had meant it. But life, college, and distance had pulled her away.

When she mentioned Jonah’s name that first night, her mother froze. “You don’t know?” she asked.

“Know what?” Ellie said.

Her mother sighed, setting her teacup down. “Jonah disappeared years ago. They said he stole money from the church — and there was that girl, the pastor’s daughter. She vanished too. People said he ran off with her.”

Ellie’s heart sank. The Jonah she remembered wouldn’t have