Chapter 13
The next morning, the Denver sky was overcast, matching the heavy dread settling in my chest. I met with Detective Miller, the lead investigator who had helped us put Clara away years ago. He was a grizzled veteran who had seen too much but still cared enough to keep fighting. We stood outside the observation room at the hospital, watching the boy through the two-way glass.
The child sat on the bed, his knees pulled tightly to his chest. He stared blankly at the wall, ignoring the cartoon playing softly on the television.
"We ran his fingerprints and DNA through the national database," Miller said, crossing his arms. "Nothing. It's like he doesn't exist. No missing persons reports match his description in a five-hundred-mile radius."
"Clara targeted undocumented families and vulnerable runaways," I noted, my eyes fixed on the boy's trembling shoulders. "Whoever is running this operation is using her exact playbook."
"We need a location, Ethan," Miller said, sounding frustrated. "We combed the area where he was found near the interstate. No footprints, no abandoned vehicles, no security camera footage. The rain washed away whatever trail he left. If we don't get him to speak, the trail goes dead, and whoever had him will just pack up and move."
I opened the door and stepped into the room. I kept my movements slow, deliberate, and entirely predictable. I didn't want to startle him.
"Hi there," I said softly, sitting on the floor rather than the chair, making myself physically lower than him. "My name is Ethan. I'm a doctor."
The boy didn't blink. He didn't even look in my direction.
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"You don't have to talk to me," I continued, keeping my voice gentle. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You are safe here. No one is going to lock the door from the outside."
At the word 'lock,' his tiny hands gripped his knees tighter. His knuckles turned white. He was listening, but he was trapped behind a wall of absolute terror. I knew that wall. I had spent years helping Lily tear hers down brick by brick.
