“Caleb Mercer?”
“Yes.”
A woman was crying.
“This is Denise, Sofia’s neighbor.”
Caleb stood from his office chair.
“What happened?”
“It’s Eli.”
Everything inside him went cold.
“What about him?”
“He’s missing.”
The police had already filled the apartment when Caleb arrived.
Sofia stood in the kitchen wearing the same clothes she had worn to work.
Her face looked dead.
A detective spoke quietly with her.
Caleb stayed near the doorway.
Then Sofia saw him.
For half a second, rage appeared.
Then it collapsed.
“He didn’t come home.”
Caleb crossed the room.
“What time?”
“School got out at three fifteen.”
“Bus?”
“He walks.”
“Route?”
She stared.
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to look.”
“The police are looking.”
“So am I.”
“Caleb—”
“When did you last speak to him?”
“This morning.”
“Anything unusual?”
“No.”
“Anyone bothering him?”
“No.”
“Sofia.”
“No!”
Her voice broke.
Then Caleb remembered the sedan.
“Black four-door car?”
Her face changed.
Caleb knew instantly.
“You’ve seen it.”
Sofia looked toward the detective.
Then away.
“How long?”
She whispered, “Two weeks.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“I did. They said there wasn’t enough to go on.”
“Did Eli notice?”
“I don’t know.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened.
He took out his phone.
Sofia grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
“What?”
“Call your club.”
“They can cover more ground.”
“I don’t want them involved.”
“My people run towing routes, garages, delivery companies. We have eyes everywhere.”
“No.”
“Sofia, your son is missing.”
Her fingers tightened.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Her face crumpled.
And what she said next destroyed every assumption Caleb had made.
“The people watching us aren’t interested in Eli because of me. They’re interested in him because of you.”
Caleb went still.
“What?”
Sofia looked toward the police again.
Then dragged him into the bedroom and shut the door.
“You remember Darren?”
Caleb stared.
“My brother?”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course you remember.”
“What does Darren have to do with Eli?”
“Everything.”
Caleb felt pressure building inside his chest.
“Sofia.”
“After you were arrested, Darren came to me.”
Caleb’s blood turned to ice.
“He said the police thought he had escaped with records from the club. Ledgers. Payoffs. Names. Accounts.”
Caleb knew this.
Darren had vanished with enough evidence to destroy dozens of people.
“He asked you for help?”
“No.”
Sofia wiped tears from her face.
“He was bleeding.”
Caleb said nothing.
“He’d been shot. He came to my apartment because he thought you had told me where emergency money was hidden.”
“I never told you anything.”
“I know.”
“What happened?”
“I refused to help him.”
Sofia’s breathing grew uneven.
“He got angry. We fought. My neighbor heard me screaming and called the police. Darren ran.”
Caleb’s fists clenched.
“Did he hurt you?”
Sofia looked at the floor.
That was answer enough.
Caleb turned away because if Darren Mercer had somehow entered the room at that moment, Caleb would have killed him with his bare hands.
“There’s more,” Sofia whispered.
Caleb turned back.
“Darren left something behind.”
“What?”
“A key.”
Caleb frowned.
“To what?”
“I didn’t know. Not then.”
Sofia sat on the edge of the bed.
“Months later, someone broke into my apartment looking for it. I’d hidden it inside a cookbook. I moved away. Changed my name. Eventually married Miguel Torres.”
“Eli’s father.”
