Chapter 6 - The Woman at the Harbor
The boy in the photograph had dark hair and a serious face. He stood beside a kitchen table in a paper birthday crown. Someone had cropped the adult beside him out of the frame.
Isabella held the picture by its edges. She wanted to search his face for proof. She feared she would see whatever she needed to see.
Mara took the photograph to Calder. Elias searched for the bakery name printed on the cake box in the background. By morning, he had found the shop in a town forty miles up the coast.
Isabella wanted to go there immediately.
“First, we find out who bought the cake,” Mara said.
“Someone who might know where he is.”
“Exactly. Give Calder time to get the records.”
Isabella waited until noon. Then she received a call from Natalia.
“I’m at the foundation office,” Natalia said. “Celia is clearing out files.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because your name is on the boxes.”
Isabella gripped the phone. “Take pictures.”
“I did. She saw me.”
“Leave.”
“I’m trying.”
The call ended.
Isabella alerted Calder, then called Natalia back. No answer.
Police found Natalia outside the building twenty minutes later. She was shaken and had a cut on her palm, but she was safe. She had dropped her phone during an argument with Celia. An employee picked it up and handed it to Calder.
The photographs showed six archive boxes bound for shredding. Each bore Isabella’s name. One contained invoices from Harbor Family Services.
Natalia asked to speak with Isabella.
They met in a small room at the investigator’s office. Natalia wore a bandage around her palm and kept her eyes on the table.
“I won’t ask you to forgive me,” she said.
“Good.”
“Dante told me your marriage was over.”
“It is now.”
Natalia swallowed. “He didn’t bring me to the gala to hurt you. I asked him to.”
Isabella stared at her.
“Celia found out about us. She said if Dante didn’t make our relationship public, she’d give the papers to the press. He thought she meant our messages.”
“What papers?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I went through her office.”
“You could have come to me.”
“I was ashamed.” Natalia looked up. “And I thought you’d have me fired before I could explain.”
“I hired you. I would have listened.”
Natalia’s eyes filled. “I know that now.”
Calder entered before Isabella could answer. She carried a printed receipt.
“The cake was ordered by a woman named June Bell,” she said. “She runs a small childcare center near the harbor.”
“Does she have the boy?”
“We don’t know. We’re going to speak with her.”
“I’m coming.”
Calder studied her. “You can ride with us. You’ll wait in the car until we know it’s safe.”
June Bell’s center sat in a converted house with yellow doors and a fenced yard. As they pulled up, Isabella saw children’s coats hanging inside.
A woman in her fifties opened the door. When Calder showed her badge, June’s expression changed.
“Is this about Celia?” she asked.
“It’s about a child,” Calder said.
June looked past her, straight at Isabella.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said.
Then she stepped aside, revealing a small red backpack on the floor.
May you like
A name was written across its front.
Leo.
