Chapter 16 - The Secret Number
David did not sleep that night.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the message on Leo's tablet.
Soon it will just be you and me taking care of each other.
Dad may have to go away for a while.
Sarah had not simply planned for David to be arrested.
She had prepared Leo emotionally for it.
She had planted the idea in a child's mind that losing his father was something inevitable and almost ordinary.
That realization made David angrier than the stolen money.
Elaine handed Mason every message Sarah had sent her, including one that said David was becoming dangerous because he could not accept Emma’s death.
The wording mirrored the guardianship petition almost exactly.
Sarah had not invented separate lies for separate people.
She had distributed one coordinated story and trusted repetition to make it feel true.
Angrier than the false documents.
Angrier even than the board suspension.
Because money could be recovered.
Reputation could be repaired.
A child's trust was harder.
At 6:40 the next morning, Priya finished restoring deleted messages from the hidden chat application on Leo's tablet.
There were sixty-three messages.
Sarah had begun contacting him five months after the wedding.
At first, the conversations looked harmless.
Did you finish your math homework?
Remember Dad likes coffee in the morning.
Do you want pancakes Saturday?
After discovering the secret messages, David sat with the child specialist while Leo drew three houses on a sheet of paper.
One was their current house.
One was Claire's.
One was the old house where Emma had lived.
Sarah did not appear in any drawing.
The specialist did not point that out.
Neither did David.
Instead she asked Leo which house felt safest.
He circled Claire's.
David felt the answer like a small wound.
Then Leo added their current house too.
"Now that Sarah is not there," he explained.
David nodded.
He did not make the moment about himself.
Later the specialist told him that children often measure safety by predictability, not architecture.
"Do what you say you will do," she told him.
"Do not make promises about things you cannot control."
"Like telling him Sarah can never come back."
"Exactly."
"That is what he wants to hear."
"Then tell him what you can guarantee today."
David thought about that when Leo asked if Sarah would return.
He could guarantee locked doors tonight.
He could guarantee Claire nearby.
He could guarantee that nobody would secretly use Emma's memory to manipulate him again.
Small promises were less satisfying than grand ones.
They were also real.
Then the questions changed.
Does your dad ever talk about your mom at night?
Did your mom keep papers in the blue box?
Did she ever give you a special toy and tell you not to lose it?
Do you remember a man named Mark visiting before she died?
Did your mom ever say the name Lena?
Each question had been wrapped in affection.
Each answer had been gathered without David knowing.
Sarah even used games.
Tell me three things you remember about Mom and I will tell you three funny things about Dad.
Leo had answered because children answer adults they trust.
The final month was different.
Sarah became impatient.
Check the attic when Dad is working.
Look inside the red robot if you find it.
Do not worry, it is for a surprise.
Do not tell Aunt Claire because she ruins surprises.
David had to stop reading after that.
Claire read the rest.
Her face became harder with every line.
"She used him."
"Yes."
"For months."
"Yes."
"And I kept telling you she was too interested in Emma's things."
David looked at her.
Claire immediately regretted the sentence.
"I am sorry."
"Do not be."
"That was not fair."
"It was true."
"I did not know this."
"Neither did I."
David rubbed both hands over his face.
"That is the problem."
Leo sat in the next room with a child specialist Mason had brought in.
The specialist was not interrogating him.
She was simply making sure the questions adults asked did not keep turning him into a witness before he could remain a child.
David was grateful for that.
He was also ashamed they needed her.
Mason entered with a printout.
"The secret phone came online again."
David stood.
"Where?"
"For ninety seconds near St. Matthew's Church."
"Sarah?"
"Probably."
"Why a church?"
"We checked traffic cameras."
Mason laid down a still image.
Sarah stood in the church parking lot wearing a dark wig, sunglasses, and a long beige coat.
Beside her was Elaine.
David stared at the image.
"My mother?"
Claire leaned over the table.
"What is she doing there?"
Mason's expression was grim.
"We are trying to find out."
David called Elaine.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
He called her house.
Nothing.
He called the driver she sometimes used.
The driver said Elaine canceled him that morning because she was going to church with a friend.
David felt rage begin to build.
"She met Sarah."
Claire shook her head.
"She would not."
David looked at the photograph.
"She did."
Officers reached Elaine's house twenty minutes later.
She was there.
Safe.
Confused by the police presence.
David arrived before Mason.
Elaine opened the front door and immediately saw his face.
"What happened?"
"You tell me."
"David."
"Did you meet Sarah this morning?"
Elaine's expression answered before she spoke.
"She called me."
"You met her."
"She sounded terrified."
"She abducted Leo."
"She said you were twisting what happened."
David stared at his mother.
"You believed her?"
"I did not say I believed everything."
"You met her while police are looking for her."
"She is my daughter-in-law."
"She is suspected of helping cause Emma's death."
Elaine flinched.
"Suspected."
Claire turned away in disbelief.
David's voice dropped.
"What did you give her?"
Elaine looked toward the floor.
That was enough.
"Mom."
"She needed money."
"How much?"
"Five thousand dollars."
David stared.
"Cash?"
"Yes."
"What else?"
"Nothing."
"Do not lie to me today."
Elaine's eyes filled with tears.
"My old car."
David stepped backward.
"You gave her a car."
"She said David was trying to freeze everything and she needed to get to an attorney."
"I am David."
Elaine closed her eyes.
"I know."
"She said I was dangerous, did she not?"
Elaine did not answer.
"Did she show you the wrist photos?"
"Yes."
"Did she tell you why I grabbed her wrist?"
"She said you were angry."
"She was about to hit Leo."
Elaine looked stunned.
"What?"
"She raised her hand to slap him in front of sixty people."
"I did not see that part."
"Because you were talking to Aunt Margaret near the fireplace."
Elaine sat down.
"Sarah said Leo attacked her with cake and water."
"He exposed her tattoo."
"I know."
"The tattoo Emma documented before she died."
"I know that now."
David stared at her.
"You knew enough this morning to know police wanted Sarah."
Elaine cried silently.
"She sounded so frightened."
"So did Emma."
The sentence stopped everything.
Elaine looked at him.
David regretted the cruelty and meant it at the same time.
"Emma tried to warn us too."
Elaine lowered her head.
"I thought Sarah loved you."
"So did I."
"I thought you were falling apart because of grief."
"So did Sarah."
"What do you mean?"
"She counted on everyone thinking that."
Mason arrived and took over the factual questions.
Elaine had given Sarah the keys to a silver 2011 Lexus registered in Elaine's name.
The car had no built-in tracking.
Sarah took it at 6:32 a.m.
She said she was driving to meet an attorney in Greenfield.
She also asked Elaine whether David kept the original photograph or gave it to police.
Elaine said she did not know.
Sarah asked about the blue box.
Elaine again said she did not know.
Then Sarah asked one question Elaine found strange.
"She asked whether Mark was still alive."
Mason looked up.
"Exact words?"
"She said, 'Did Mark survive yesterday?'"
"What did you say?"
"I said I had not heard otherwise."
Mason turned to David.
"She may think Caleb hit him."
"He missed."
"She might not know that."
David understood.
"If she thinks Mark is dead, she may stop worrying about what he can say."
Mason nodded.
"Which gives us an advantage."
The advantage lasted less than an hour.
At 8:03 a.m., Sarah's secret number called Leo's tablet.
The device was in police custody.
Priya connected it through a recording system.
David looked at Mason.
"Answer it."
"It might be better if Leo does."
David's face hardened.
"No."
"We would not put him at risk."
"No."
Mason studied him.
"She may hang up if she hears you."
"Then she hangs up."
Leo appeared in the doorway behind Claire.
"I can do it."
David turned.
"No."
"Dad."
"You do not have to help catch her."
"I know."
"Then you are not answering."
Leo stepped closer.
"She thinks I still believe her."
David hated how true that might be.
The child specialist joined them.
"If Leo wants to answer, we can keep it very short."
David looked at her.
"He is eight."
"Which is why he gets a choice."
David looked at Leo.
"Do you actually want to?"
Leo nodded.
"I want her to stop lying."
They set one rule.
Leo would not improvise.
He would answer simple questions and hand the tablet to David if Sarah became threatening.
The call was returned.
Sarah answered immediately.
"Leo?"
The boy looked at David.
"Yes."
Sarah exhaled.
"Are you okay?"
Leo's face tightened.
"Yes."
"Is your father there?"
Leo followed the prepared answer.
"Not in the room."
Technically true.
David stood behind the open doorway.
"I am sorry about last night," Sarah said.
Leo looked at the specialist.
She nodded for him to continue.
"Why did you lock me in there?"
Sarah paused.
"Because things got complicated."
"You said Dad was hurt."
"I needed you to come with me."
"You lied."
Another pause.
"Sometimes adults have to say things children do not understand yet."
David's hands clenched.
Leo looked down at the tablet.
"Where are you?"
Sarah laughed softly.
"You sound like your father."
Priya watched the trace map.
The signal bounced between towers along Highway 9.
Moving.
Sarah was in a car.
"Leo, I need you to tell me something."
"What?"
"Did your father find the little black card from the red robot?"
Leo looked at David.
"I do not know."
"Think."
"I do not know."
Sarah's voice sharpened.
"Did he find it or not?"
The specialist raised a hand, ready to end the call.
Leo spoke first.
"Why do you hate Mom?"
Everyone froze.
That was not scripted.
Sarah became silent.
David almost stepped into the room.
The specialist stopped him.
Then Sarah answered.
"I did not hate her."
Leo's voice was small.
"You called her stupid."
"I was angry."
"Did you make her car break?"
David closed his eyes.
Sarah did not answer for five full seconds.
"Who told you that?"
"You did not say no."
David opened his eyes.
Leo's face had changed.
There was hurt there.
But also certainty.
Sarah tried again.
"Leo, listen to me."
"No."
"Your mother made choices that put everyone in danger."
"No."
"She should have left things alone."
Leo's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
"She-"
Leo ended the call.
The room was silent.
David crossed it and pulled him into his arms.
"You did enough."
Leo cried against his shoulder.
"She still blames Mom."
"I know."
"Mom did not do anything bad."
"No."
"She found the bad thing."
David closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Priya interrupted gently.
"We got a route."
David looked up.
Sarah's phone had traveled south on Highway 9, then turned east toward Greenfield.
The last tower hit placed her within a six-mile radius of the old Greenfield rail district.
Mason studied the map.
"What is there?"
Michael, who had just entered, answered.
"Halston owns a warehouse there."
David looked at him.
"Which one?"
"The old freight terminal."
Mason was already moving.
Then David's phone received a message from an unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
It showed the old Greenfield terminal.
In the foreground sat Emma's blue box.
The message beneath it contained one sentence.
May you like
BRING MARK'S DRIVE OR I BURN WHAT SHE LEFT.
