Chapter 5 - A PERFECT LITTLE STORY
Elena asked to speak to David the next morning.
Reyes made it clear he didn’t have to agree.
“She says she’ll explain.”
David looked through the hospital window at the parking lot.
For fourteen months, he had imagined finding the person who took his son.
In none of those nightmares had the person been his sister.
“I’ll listen,” he said.
At the station, Elena sat across a small table in county-issued clothing.
Without her jewelry and perfect makeup, she looked younger.
David hated that he noticed.
“Is he eating?” she asked.
“You don’t get to start there.”
Her eyes filled.
“I love him.”
David leaned back.
“Then tell me what happened.”
Elena folded her hands.
That familiar gesture.
The one she used before explaining why a waitress was wrong, why a contractor was incompetent, why Sarah was too sensitive.
“At the party, Leo came outside. He was upset.”
“About what?”
“He said nobody listened to him.”
“He was eight.”
“I know how old he was.”
“Then keep going.”
“I was leaving. He got in the car.”
“And you drove away.”
“I thought we needed a little time.”
David stared at her.
“A little time?”
“When I realized everyone was searching, I panicked.”
“You had a phone.”
“I know.”
“You knew our address.”
“David—”
“You watched his mother beg on television.”
Elena began crying harder.
“I couldn’t come back after that.”
“You came back the next morning with groceries.”
She looked down.
“You hugged my daughter.”
“I was trying to help.”
“Where was he?”
Elena pressed her lips together.
“Where was my son while you were standing in my kitchen?”
“At a place outside town.”
“What place?”
She looked toward the door.
“I want my lawyer.”
David stood.
Elena reached across the table.
“Dad said he would fix it.”
David went still.
She seemed to realize what she had said.
“He told me to wait,” she whispered.
“How long?”
No answer.
“How long did he know?”
Elena wiped her face with the heel of her hand.
Then her voice changed.
“He’ll say I’m crazy. He’ll say he had no idea.”
David looked at the woman who had watched his family collapse and offered them tea.
“For once,” he said, “I hope you know what it feels like not to be believed.”
He walked out.
Reyes was waiting in the hallway.
Before David could speak, her phone rang.
She listened, then looked at him.
“Texas officers went to your father’s estate.”
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“And?”
“His car is gone. So are several boxes from his study.”
