Chapter 10 - THE SECOND DISAPPEARANCE
Delia called me at 9:17 that night.
She did not cry.
That frightened me more than crying would have.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“We stopped at my sister’s house.”
She was struggling to breathe.
“Ewan was tired.”
“Delia.”
“I made tea.”
“Focus on me.”
“I was gone three minutes.”
Her voice cracked.
“When I came back, the back door was open.”
“Blood?”
“No.”
“Signs of a fight?”
“A chair was knocked over.”
That mattered.
Ewan’s left side was weak.
He could not overpower healthy men.
But he would fight if he recognized danger.
“Your sister?”
“At work.”
“Neighbors?”
“Nothing.”
I turned toward Jonas.
He was already calling people.
Then Delia said something that stopped me.
“They left his board.”
“His letter board?”
“Yes.”
“Send me a picture.”
The photograph arrived.
The board lay on the floor.
Several letters had been circled with pencil.
Ewan had done it himself.
V.
H.
I looked at Vincent.
“V.H.”
His face changed.
“What?”
“Vandermark Holdings?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“What then?”
“Victor Hale.”
For a second I thought I had misheard.
“Your brother?”
Vincent nodded.
I had met Victor only twice.
A former private security contractor.
He had supposedly moved overseas years earlier.
“Why would Ewan circle his initials?”
Vincent sat down slowly.
“Because Victor helped me get Ewan out of Pier 44.”
“Then he knows everything.”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
Vincent didn’t move.
“Matteo.”
“What?”
“There is something I never told your mother.”
I stared at him.
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“Victor disappeared three months after the fire.”
“Meaning?”
“He didn’t move overseas.”
“Then where did he go?”
“I always assumed Leonard killed him.”
“And now?”
“Now I think Leonard hired him.”
The room went silent.
I called Delia again.
“Get out of the house.”
“I’m not leaving without Ewan.”
“He’s already gone.”
“I waited six years for him.”
“And you’ll lose another six if you stay there.”
She said nothing.
“Take your sister and go to the sheriff’s station.”
“You’re telling me to go to police?”
“Yes.”
“Who are you?”
“Apparently a man learning very late that rules can be useful.”
She almost laughed.
Almost.
Then the line cut.
I called back.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Jonas looked toward me.
“We lost her signal.”
I felt anger rise.
Then a message arrived from Ewan’s phone.
A video.
I opened it.
My brother sat in a chair beneath a single hanging light.
His wrists were not tied.
They didn’t need to be.
A man stood behind him.
Older than Vincent.
Same eyes.
Victor Hale.
He looked into the camera.
“Matteo.”
Ewan turned his head.
Victor placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Bring the ledgers to the old Pier 44 site tomorrow at midnight.”
He smiled.
May you like
“Or this time, your brother actually dies there.”
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