Chapter 4
I stopped thinking like a grieving father after that.
I started thinking like a man whose daughter was in danger.
“Maya does not leave this hospital.”
Ruiz nodded.
“We’ve already placed an officer outside Leo’s room.”
“One isn’t enough.”
“We’ll add another.”
“My father knows this hospital.”
“We’re watching entrances.”
Sarah grabbed my arm.
“We’re taking Maya home with us.”
“No.”
She stared at me.
“No?”
“If Dad is involved, he knows our house. He probably knows everything about our routines.”
“So where do we go?”
Ruiz answered.
“Somewhere he doesn’t know.”
By three in the morning, Maya was asleep in a chair beside Leo.
Her head rested against the mattress.
Leo had finally fallen asleep too.
Even unconscious, his fingers were curled around her sleeve.
Sarah sat on the other side.
I watched them.
For fourteen months I had pictured Leo alone in forests, ditches, strange cars, unknown rooms.
I had imagined predators.
Drifters.
Kidnappers.
Never my own family.
Ruiz returned just before dawn.
“We found your father’s truck.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near Flagstaff.”
“Was there blood?”
“No.”
“Did he take another vehicle?”
“Possibly.”
I rubbed my face.
“Tell me what Elena is saying.”
“She asked for an attorney.”
“So nothing.”
“She made one statement.”
“What?”
“That your father started it.”
My jaw tightened.
“What does that even mean?”
“She wouldn’t elaborate.”
I stood.
“I want to talk to her.”
“No.”
“I’m her brother.”
“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t.”
“She might talk to me.”
“She might manipulate you.”
“She already stole my son.”
Ruiz studied me.
Then he leaned against the wall.
“There’s something else.”
I hated those words.
“What now?”
“We found financial records.”
“Elena’s?”
“Your father’s.”
He handed me copies.
Payments.
Large ones.
Transfers into Elena’s accounts.
One every month beginning shortly after Leo disappeared.
“What is this?”
“We’re investigating.”
Sarah looked over my shoulder.
“Why would Robert pay her?”
I stared at the numbers.
Then I remembered something.
A family argument from years ago.
My father had always controlled money.
He paid Elena’s college tuition.
Bought her first condo.
Covered debts she never discussed.
When she opened her design business, Dad invested.
Whenever she needed something, he handled it.
I had once joked that Elena was Dad’s favorite.
She had laughed.
Now that memory felt poisonous.
Leo woke late that morning.
A child psychologist joined us.
Her name was Dr. Patel.
She spoke softly and never touched Leo without permission.
She asked whether he wanted me present.
He did.
“Can you tell me about the day you disappeared?” she asked.
Leo’s eyes moved toward me.
I nodded.
“You can stop anytime.”
He pulled the blanket higher.
“I was playing near Grandpa’s garage.”
“With cousins?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Aunt Elena called me.”
My throat tightened.
“What did she say?”
“She said Dad needed me.”
I felt sick.
Leo continued.
“She took me behind the garage.”
“What happened next?”
“Grandpa was there.”
I squeezed my hands together beneath the table.
“He told me to get in his truck.”
“Were you scared?”
“No.”
That answer hurt more.
“Because he was Grandpa.”
Dr. Patel nodded.
“Then what?”
“They drove me to a cabin.”
“What cabin?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was anyone else there?”
Leo hesitated.
“A woman.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“What woman?”
“I don’t know her name.”
“What did she look like?”
“Brown hair. She cried a lot.”
Dr. Patel noticed his breathing change.
“We can stop.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I want Dad to know.”
My eyes burned.
“Tell me.”
“The woman said they were wrong.”
“Who?”
“Grandpa and Aunt Elena.”
“What were they wrong about?”
Leo shook his head.
“They kept asking me what I saw.”
I leaned forward.
“What did you see?”
His face went pale.
“Grandpa hurt somebody.”
Silence filled the room.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where?”
“At his ranch.”
Sarah stood by the door, both hands over her mouth.
Leo whispered:
“I saw Grandpa push a man.”
“Push him where?”
“Down the stone steps behind the barn.”
My stomach dropped.
“Did the man get up?”
Leo shook his head.
“Grandpa saw me.”
Now I understood.
Not everything.
But enough.
Leo had not been taken randomly.
He had been silenced.
“What happened after the cabin?”
“They moved me.”
“To Grandpa’s basement?”
“Yes.”
“And then Elena’s?”
“Later.”
“Why?”
He looked confused.
“Aunt Elena said Grandpa was getting dangerous.”
I stared.
“She said she was saving me from him.”
I almost laughed from disbelief.
“She kept you under a floor.”
“I know.”
“Did she ever say she would bring you home?”
“All the time.”
“When?”
“She always said soon.”
I had to turn away.
Dr. Patel ended the session.
Outside, Ruiz was waiting.
I told him about the man falling down the ranch steps.
His expression sharpened.
“Do you remember anyone disappearing around that time?”
Then I did.
My father’s ranch manager.
Thomas Reed.
Dad claimed Thomas had stolen money and fled.
Nobody ever heard from him again.
Ruiz immediately called his team.
I stood near the window.
My father had possibly killed a man.
Leo had seen it.
Elena helped hide my son.
Now Dad was missing.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One text.
I opened it.
You have my grandson. Elena lied to you. If you want to know why Leo was really taken, come alone.
Below it was an address.
Sarah saw my face.
“What is it?”
I showed Ruiz.
He swore under his breath.
Sarah grabbed me.
“You’re not going.”
I looked at the message again.
Then another arrived.
Ask Leo what his mother knows.
May you like
I slowly turned toward Sarah.
Her face had gone completely white.
