Chương 4
Daniel studied it.
“Probably.”
A sound came out of Rachel.
Half laugh.
Half sob.
She covered it with a cough.
Daniel glanced at her.
Ethan noticed the familiarity.
“How long have you known him?”
Rachel understood immediately.
“Four years.”
“You work for him?”
“I work with him.”
Daniel said, “Rachel’s my assistant.”
Rachel gave him a look.
“Executive assistant.”
“Right.”
“You keep forgetting the executive part.”
“I don’t forget. I just don’t know what it changes.”
“It changes my résumé.”
Something almost normal entered the room.
Ethan disliked it.
Then, unexpectedly, he needed it.
He drank the hot chocolate.
It was too sweet.
His mother would have complained.
She hated hotel hot chocolate because she believed expensive hotels used cheap powder and charged eight dollars for it.
The thought came so clearly Ethan had to put the cup down.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Ethan turned another page.
There were fewer photographs after his third birthday.
Then none.
The empty plastic sleeves at the back felt like an accusation.
A deputy entered.
“Mr. Miller?”
Daniel stood.
“We need to speak privately.”
“No.”
The deputy looked at Ethan.
Daniel said, “Anything involving him gets said where he can hear it unless there’s a legal reason not to.”
Ethan looked down quickly.
The deputy nodded.
“We contacted county services. There’s an active missing-child entry associated with Ethan.”
Silence.
Ethan looked up.
“What?”
Reyes stepped into the room behind the other deputy.
“Not a current Amber Alert. An older interstate custodial case.”
Daniel sat down hard.
Rachel whispered, “Jesus.”
Ethan stared at them.
“Missing from who?”
Reyes looked toward Daniel.
“From your father.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Ethan stood.
The blanket slid from his shoulders.
“No.”
“Ethan—”
“No.”
Reyes kept her voice calm.
“The record says your father reported you missing nine years ago.”
“My mom didn’t kidnap me.”
Nobody answered.
That was the wrong thing for them to do.
Ethan looked at Daniel.
“Tell her.”
Daniel’s face had become frighteningly still.
“Ethan.”
“Tell her.”
“I don’t know what happened.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I know what I believed.”
“What?”
Daniel glanced at Reyes.
Then back at his son.
“I came home one night and you were gone.”
“With Mom.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
“She left a note.”
Ethan waited.
“She said she was taking you away.”
“That’s not kidnapping.”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“She also said I would never see you again.”
Ethan’s eyes burned.
“She wouldn’t.”
Daniel did not argue.
That made Ethan angrier.
“Where’s the note?”
“I have it.”
“Show me.”
“It’s at my house.”
“Convenient.”
Rachel inhaled sharply.
Daniel absorbed the word.
“Yes.”
Ethan walked toward the door.
Reyes blocked him without touching.
“Where are you going?”
“Away from him.”
“You can’t leave alone.”
“I got here alone.”
“And that was dangerous.”
“I’m fine.”
“No,” Daniel said.
Ethan turned.
Daniel had risen again.
For the first time there was something forceful in his voice.
“You’re not fine.”
Ethan stared at him.
Daniel took a breath and lowered his tone.
“You’re twelve. You crossed half the state alone. You walked up a mountain road in a thunderstorm. A security manager threw you out of a hotel. Your mother died and apparently nobody told me. I’m not saying you’re weak. I’m saying none of that is fine.”
Ethan’s face burned.
“You don’t get to act like my dad now.”
Daniel closed his mouth.
The sentence landed exactly where Ethan intended.
It still made Ethan feel worse.
Reyes looked away.
Rachel folded the beige coat over her arm.
Nobody knew what to do next.
That was the first moment Ethan began to believe they might be telling the truth.
Adults lying together usually moved quickly.
They supplied answers.
These adults looked lost.
County child services arrived at eleven twenty-three.
The caseworker’s name was Jonah Bell.
He was young enough that Daniel seemed suspicious of him on sight.
Jonah had curly hair, glasses, and a raincoat with one broken snap.
He listened more than he spoke.
Ethan liked him almost immediately, which made Ethan distrust himself.
Jonah asked about Lynn.
Ethan gave the motel address.
Reyes called Pueblo police.
Lynn did not answer her phone.
The motel room was empty.
That changed the room.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Empty how?”
Reyes held up a hand.
“We’re confirming.”
“With Ethan’s belongings?”
“They’re checking.”
“What about school records?”
“They’re checking.”
“Medical records?”
“They’re checking.”
“Daniel,” Rachel murmured.
He stopped.
Jonah looked at Ethan.
“When did you last see Lynn?”
“Yesterday morning.”
“What did she say?”
“That she was going to get breakfast.”
“Did she come back?”
“No.”
“And you left when?”
“After lunch.”
Jonah’s expression changed slightly.
Ethan looked at him.
“What?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Adults make that face when they know something and don’t want to say.”
Jonah considered him.
“That’s fair.”
Daniel looked at the table.
Jonah said, “It’s possible Lynn left before you did.”
Ethan folded his arms.
“So?”
“So we need to know whether she abandoned you.”
“She didn’t.”
“You said she didn’t come back.”
“She does that sometimes.”
The room quieted.
Daniel looked up.
“How long?”
Ethan shrugged.
“A while.”
“How long is a while?”
“Sometimes overnight.”
Daniel pushed back from the table.
Rachel put a hand on his forearm.
He shook it off, not angrily, but fast.
Ethan noticed.
Jonah noticed too.
“Mr. Miller,” Jonah said, “this is not the moment to interrogate him.”
“I’m not interrogating him.”
“You’re asking questions faster than he can answer.”
Daniel stood.
“I need air.”
Rachel looked at the rain outside.
Daniel corrected himself.
“I need a hallway.”
He left.
Ethan stared at the door.
Rachel remained.
“He does that,” she said.
“What?”
“Leaves before he says something stupid.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Does it work?”
“About half the time.”
Ethan almost smiled.
He hated that too.
By midnight, Pueblo police confirmed Lynn had checked out of the motel Saturday morning.
She had left no forwarding address.
May you like
She had taken two suitcases.
She had left Ethan’s clothes in a black trash bag beside the motel dumpster.
