Chapter 1 – Part 2
Chapter 1 – Part 2
Emily's knees nearly buckled.
"Mommy... don't let them take me."
The words echoed through her mind with terrifying clarity.
Three years ago, witnesses at Riverside Park had given statements to the police. Most remembered nothing unusual. A few recalled hearing a frightened little boy crying near the playground. One elderly woman insisted she had heard him scream those exact words before a white delivery van sped away.
The investigators had never been able to verify her account.
Over time, everyone assumed grief had distorted the witness's memory.
Everyone except Emily.
She had repeated those words to herself every night.
Now a stranger—an old shopkeeper with no connection to her family—had spoken them aloud.
Her pulse thundered in her ears.
"Where did you hear him?" she asked.
The old man pointed toward a row of abandoned warehouses several blocks away.
"Last winter. It was freezing. I was closing my store when I heard crying behind the loading docks."
"You saw him?"
"Only for a minute."
"What happened?"
"He was curled up under cardboard boxes. Before I could reach him, two men appeared."
Emily stiffened.
"What kind of men?"
"They weren't homeless."
The shopkeeper's expression darkened.
"They wore clean boots. Expensive jackets. One had a tattoo on his neck."
"What did they do?"
"They grabbed the boy."
Emily felt sick.
"He didn't fight?"
"He did."
The old man lowered his voice.
"But not like a child throwing a tantrum."
"He looked... terrified."
"He kept apologizing."
Emily frowned.
"Apologizing?"
The shopkeeper nodded slowly.
"He kept saying, 'I'm sorry. I'll earn more tomorrow. Please don't hit the others.'"
A chill spread through Emily's body.
The others.
There were more children.
"Did you call the police?"
"I tried."
"What happened?"
"They were gone before officers arrived."
Emily looked toward the street where the black van had been parked.
It was gone.
Her instincts told her she had been watched.
Someone had seen her speak to the boy.
Someone now knew she was asking questions.
She thanked the shopkeeper and walked toward her car, forcing herself not to look frightened.
As she reached the driver's door, her phone rang.
The caller ID displayed a familiar name.
Detective Marcus Hale.
Her heart skipped.
"Marcus?"
His voice sounded unusually serious.
"Emily, where are you?"
"Downtown."
"I need you to answer one question."
"What is it?"
"Were you just near Ashford Market?"
She froze.
"...Yes."
There was a long silence.
Then he said quietly,
"Someone reported seeing you chasing a child."
Emily gripped the phone tighter.
"I wasn't chasing him."
"Then what happened?"
She took a deep breath.
"I think I found Leo."
Silence.
Not disbelief.
Not immediately.
Just silence.
Finally Marcus sighed.
"Emily..."
"No."
She interrupted him.
"I know what you're thinking."
"You've said this before."
"I know."
"But this time is different."
She described everything.
The boy's eyes.
The silver rings around the irises.
The way he had whispered "Mom."
The fear.
The mysterious men.
The black van.
Marcus listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he spoke carefully.
"Stay where you are."
"Why?"
"I'm coming."
Twenty-five minutes later, Marcus pulled into the parking lot.
He looked older than she remembered.
Three years on the case had etched permanent lines into his face.
He stepped out carrying a slim evidence folder.
"I checked something while driving."
Emily searched his expression.
"What?"
"The witness statements."
He opened the folder.
One page had been highlighted.
"This statement was ignored."
Emily read it.
A sanitation worker had reported seeing a frightened little boy with a small crescent-shaped birthmark behind his left ear.
Her breath caught.
Leo had exactly that birthmark.
Few people knew about it.
His hair usually covered it.
Marcus looked directly at her.
"Did you see behind the boy's ear?"
Emily closed her eyes.
"No."
His shoulders relaxed slightly.
"Then we still don't know."
"But we can find out."
He reached into his pocket and handed her a photograph.
It was an age-progressed image created months earlier by the missing-person unit.
Emily stared.
The resemblance struck her instantly.
Not exact.
But close enough to make her hands tremble.
Marcus spoke quietly.
"If that child is Leo..."
He paused.
"...someone has hidden him for three years."
Emily whispered,
"Then let's find him."
Marcus nodded once.
"I've already requested surveillance footage from nearby businesses."
His phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed.
"What?"
He looked up.
"The bakery on the corner has exterior cameras."
"Did they catch him?"
Marcus swallowed.
"They caught something."
"What?"
He turned the phone toward her.
The footage showed the alley.
Emily handing the boy food.
The boy calling her "Mom."
Then—
The black van.
Its rear door slid open for just a second.
A man leaned out.
He never approached.
He simply raised one hand.
The boy saw the gesture.
Then ran.
Emily stared at the screen.
"He wasn't running from me."
Marcus nodded grimly.
"He was obeying someone else."
The footage zoomed slightly as the van pulled away.
On its rear door, almost hidden beneath layers of dirt, was part of a company logo.
Only three letters remained visible.
A...L...S...
Marcus immediately recognized it.
"I've seen that before."
"Where?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked back toward the abandoned warehouses.
Then his face went pale.
"Oh no."
Emily's voice shook.
"What is it?"
Marcus met her eyes.
"Three years ago..."
"We raided a warehouse owned by a transportation company."
Emily waited.
"The company had shut down months before."
"There was no evidence."
"No fingerprints."
"No children."
"Nothing."
He looked again at the blurry logo.
"The company name..."
He barely whispered it.
"...started with those same letters."
Before Emily could respond, another call came through.
Marcus answered.
"Yes?"
His expression hardened.
"When?"
He listened for several seconds.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
"What happened?" Emily asked.
"The warehouse..."
His voice was almost inaudible.
"...is on fire."
A thick column of black smoke was already rising into the evening sky.
May you like
And somewhere inside that burning maze of concrete and steel...
the truth about Leo might be disappearing forever.
