Chapter 31 - The Truth Behind the Warning
"Mom!" I shouted at the screen. "I'm here! I'm okay!"
The picture jerked. She tried to move toward the camera, but somebody caught her arm. The video ended with a sharp crack, like a door being slammed.
I turned on Elias. "What did you do?"
He didn't say that the video was fake. He didn't blame my mother for being scared. He sat on the opposite side of the room, put his phone on the table, and said, "I left something out."
Two years earlier, when the county began clearing flooded neighborhoods, his company had hauled sealed file cabinets and office equipment for Harlan's contractors. Elias signed manifests stating the loads had been delivered to a county warehouse. Several loads never reached it.
"When I realized, I told myself it wasn't my business," he admitted. "Harlan had my employees' paychecks tied up in his contracts. I was afraid of losing everything."
"You helped him steal," I said.
"I helped him cover up where things went. I didn't understand the whole scheme then. I understood enough to ask questions, and I didn't."
My stomach rolled. It was worse than finding out he'd lied about where Mom was. He'd known about Harlan before she vanished, and he'd kept his mouth shut.
Sonia heard every word. She insisted he call the investigator, preserve his records, and make a full statement with counsel. He did. His attorney warned him he could face charges too.
"Then let them look," Elias answered. "I'm done deciding my reputation matters more than someone else's kids."
I couldn't forgive him just because he was finally brave. I told him so. He nodded.
Later Camille brought Milo to my room after his bottle. I sat with him under the soft lamp, watching his tiny fingers open and close. I thought about what Mom would do if she knew the man helping us had hidden a crime.
She would demand the truth. Then she would ask whether the truth could still save somebody.
At midnight, a new message arrived on the secure line Sonia had given us. It included a photo of Elias's signed freight manifest. Someone had drawn a circle around one delivery date.
May you like
That date was four days before Mom disappeared.
Across the bottom, somebody had typed: ASK HIM WHO WAS IN THE LAST TRUCK.
