Chapter 5 - The Dead Man's Car
The old Ford Explorer sat behind a shuttered repair shop on the south side, covered in dust and rain streaks.
Daniel recognized the dent in the rear bumper immediately.
His father had backed into a mailbox when Daniel was sixteen. They had laughed so hard neither of them ever fixed it.
Now seeing that dent felt like being punched.
Ortiz opened the rear hatch while crime-scene techs worked around them.
Inside were blankets, a duffel bag, and a metal lockbox.
No Emma.
Daniel's relief lasted half a second.
Then he saw the dried brown stain under the driver's seat.
"Blood?"
"Could be," Ortiz said.
The lockbox required a key. Margaret claimed she didn't have one.
A tech cut it open.
Inside were photocopied birth records, a bundle of letters, three old Polaroids, and a cassette tape labeled EVELYN - OCT 1997.
Daniel picked up the first photograph with gloved fingers.
A young woman with long dark hair held a newborn against her chest.
She looked exhausted.
She also looked happy.
On the back someone had written: Evelyn and Danny, day two.
Daniel's throat closed.
"That's me."
Margaret began crying quietly.
The second photograph showed Evelyn beside a young man with sandy hair.
Michael Reed.
Daniel stared at the man's face.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
The third photograph stopped him cold.
Richard Cross stood beside Thomas Vale at a gas station. Between them was Michael Reed.
Alive.
The date stamped on the photo was six weeks after Daniel's birth.
"You said Michael disappeared before I was born," Daniel said.
Margaret shook her head. "That's what Richard told me."
Ortiz looked at the picture. "So Richard knew your biological father was alive."
They played the cassette in an evidence-room recorder.
Static hissed.
Then a young woman's frightened voice filled the room.
"My name is Evelyn Vale. If something happens to me, Thomas is lying. Richard Cross is lying too. They took my baby. Michael found out where they brought him. He says he's going to get Danny back. If he doesn't come back tonight, I'm going to the police."
Daniel gripped the table.
Evelyn continued.
"Margaret may not know. I don't know. I don't know who to trust anymore."
A door slammed somewhere on the recording.
Evelyn gasped.
A man's voice shouted from a distance.
The tape ended.
No one spoke.
Daniel turned to Margaret. "Dad didn't save me."
She covered her mouth.
"He kidnapped me."
Ortiz received another update.
"We've got DNA from the blood in Richard's SUV."
Daniel braced himself.
"It's male. Old sample. We're running it through the system."
Rachel stood near the door, staring at the Polaroid of Michael.
"Daniel..."
"What?"
"I saw that man."
Daniel's head snapped toward her.
"Where?"
"Outside our house. Two weeks ago. The night you flew to Chicago."
"Michael would be in his fifties now."
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Rachel looked terrified.
"Because he wasn't watching the house."
May you like
She pointed to Emma's photograph on Daniel's phone.
"He was watching our daughter."
