Chapter 8 - The Father Who Called
Thomas had left two years earlier. He said he couldn't bear Rachel's long shifts at the hospital billing office, the late dinners, the constant noise of raising children. He moved to Columbus and sent birthday gifts a week late.
But now his name appeared beside a list of missing children.
Rachel called him from a borrowed phone at a twenty-four-hour pharmacy.
"Where are you?" Thomas demanded, skipping hello. "Cole says you kidnapped the kids."
"I'm their mother."
"That's not what the paperwork says."
"What paperwork?"
He hesitated. "Rachel, listen to me. You don't know what you're mixed up in."
"Did you sign a document for Route Forty-Two?"
The silence was worse than a confession.
"Did you?"
"I signed financial forms. They told me it was a youth transport contract. I didn't know what the names meant."
"You knew Lily's name."
Rachel remembered how Thomas used to line up every bill on their kitchen table, each envelope squared against the next, until it looked as if the family were under control. Later she realized he had always been more comfortable with numbers than apologies. She had mistaken that for steadiness. Now she wondered how many lies he'd learned to stack in those clean, careful rows before any of them came apart.
"They added that later. I swear."
Rachel gripped the phone until her knuckles hurt. "Why didn't you warn me?"
"Because they showed me a video of Owen walking to school. They knew his classroom. His teacher. Every exit."
Thomas sounded as frightened as she felt. It didn't erase what he had done.
"Then help us," she said. "Tell me who Halcyon pays."
"A man named Victor Sloane. He has a private security firm and half the county council in his pocket. You need to leave the state."
"I tried."
"I know. Cole told me every road you took."
Owen stood beside the pharmacy shelf, listening. Rachel saw something hard change in his face.
"Dad?" Owen said, reaching for the phone.
Thomas choked on his name. "Son, I'm sorry."
Owen's voice was quiet. "Are you sorry because we're scared, or because Mom found out?"
May you like
Before Thomas could answer, a second man's voice sounded behind him.
"Tell your wife I want my property back."
