Chapter 11 - THE BOY WHO REMEMBERED
Mara woke in mud.
For several seconds she couldn’t breathe.
Her shoulder screamed.
Her mouth tasted like blood.
Then headlights appeared.
Hayes’s car.
“Mara!”
Hayes jumped out.
Mara tried to stand.
“Eli.”
“I know.”
“Grant has him.”
“I know.”
“Then move.”
“You may have a broken shoulder.”
“Then I have one shoulder left.”
Hayes stared at her.
“Get in.”
They followed tire tracks through the mud.
The trail ended at an old hunting cabin.
Empty.
Grant had switched vehicles.
Mara punched the wall.
“Damn it!”
Then she noticed something on the floor.
Blue fabric.
Eli’s pajama sleeve.
Inside it was a tiny object wrapped in thread.
A memory card.
Mara stopped breathing.
Hayes picked it up.
“What is that?”
Mara smiled through the pain.
“The reason Grant is running.”
Three days earlier, after photographing the files, Mara had copied everything onto a microSD card.
Then she had hidden it inside the lining of Eli’s favorite stuffed bear.
But at the hospital, Rebecca must have found it.
And somehow moved it.
Mara stared at the torn sleeve.
“Eli knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That this mattered.”
Hayes inserted the card into a laptop.
Folders appeared.
Photographs.
Audio.
Video.
Trust records.
Hale discussing doses.
Vivian discussing Rebecca.
Grant admitting the plan.
Then one file stopped them both.
A video recorded in the archive room.
Mara hadn’t made it.
The date was four years earlier.
Rebecca stood in front of the camera.
Terrified.
“If you’re watching this, something happened to me.”
Mara felt cold.
Rebecca continued.
“My brother Grant started the nursery fire. He wanted me declared unstable after I refused to transfer my voting shares. Dr. Hale altered my medical records. My mother knows.”
Rebecca looked over her shoulder.
“I’m taking Eli away tomorrow.”
She swallowed.
“If I don’t make it, do not let Grant become his guardian.”
The video ended.
Hayes whispered, “This is enough.”
Mara shook her head.
“Not if Eli disappears.”
Hayes’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered on speaker.
Grant’s voice filled the cabin.
“Mara.”
She went still.
“How did you get this number?”
“You make everyone around you predictable.”
“Where’s Eli?”
“Safe.”
“I want to hear him.”
Pause.
Then Eli’s voice.
“Mara?”
“I’m here.”
“I’m scared.”
Mara closed her eyes.
“I know, baby. Listen to me. You stay calm.”
Grant returned.
“You have something that belongs to my family.”
Mara looked at the memory card.
“So do you.”
“I want the card.”
“I want Eli.”
“Midnight. Callahan estate.”
Hayes shook her head violently.
Grant continued.
“Come alone.”
Mara smiled without humor.
“You know I won’t.”
“Yes,” Grant said.
“I also know Detective Hayes is sitting right beside you.”
Hayes’s face drained.
May you like
Then Grant added,
“And if either of you calls for backup, Rebecca dies first.”
