Chapter 5 - THE SHADOW BEHIND THE CURTAINS
For the first time since the crash, Vincent and I wanted exactly the same thing.
Find Leo.
My mother had left the townhouse moments before the threatening photograph arrived.
Her vehicle's location service had stopped updating.
I called the police.
Natalie contacted a family security specialist.
Vincent called his own people.
For one frightening moment, I considered stopping him.
I knew what his men were capable of.
But my child was missing.
I couldn't pretend his resources didn't exist.
"Vincent," I said, gripping his arm, "no violence."
He stared at me.
"Anna—"
"I mean it. We find my son. We don't start a war."
He held my gaze.
Then nodded.
"Agreed."
It was the first promise he'd made me in three years.
And I desperately needed him to keep it.
Forty minutes later, my mother called.
I almost collapsed.
"Mom!"
"Anna, we're safe."
"Where are you?"
"At a police station. Someone followed us from the townhouse. I didn't want to lead them to Leo's new preschool."
My knees weakened.
"Is he okay?"
"He's eating crackers with a very nice officer."
I began crying.
Vincent stepped closer.
"Is Leo safe?"
I nodded.
His eyes closed.
For several seconds, he looked as though his bones had turned to water.
Then he whispered, "Thank God."
We drove to the station separately.
Vincent arrived first but waited outside.
He didn't demand access.
Didn't announce who he was.
Didn't use his name to pressure anyone.
When I entered, Leo ran toward me.
"Mommy!"
I lifted him.
"Oh, baby."
He smelled like apple juice and crayons.
I held him so tightly he complained.
"Too squishy!"
I laughed through tears.
"Sorry, sweetheart."
Then Leo looked past my shoulder.
Vincent stood near the doorway.
Our son stared.
"Mommy."
"Yes?"
"That's the man from the party."
I nodded.
Vincent crouched down several feet away.
"Hello, Leo."
Leo studied him.
"Are you my daddy?"
The room went silent.
Vincent swallowed.
"Yes."
Leo considered the answer.
"How come you never came to my birthday?"
Vincent's face crumpled.
I felt something inside me break.
He had no easy answer.
No explanation a three-year-old could understand.
So he said the only thing he could.
"I didn't know where you were."
Leo frowned.
"Mommy knew."
Vincent nodded.
"She did."
"Did you get lost?"
A tear slipped down Vincent's cheek.
"Something like that."
Leo stepped closer.
"Grandma says when you get lost, you should ask for help."
Vincent laughed shakily.
"She's very smart."
"She is."
Leo glanced at me.
"Can Daddy come to my next birthday?"
I froze.
Vincent looked at me.
He didn't answer for me.
I knelt beside Leo.
"We'll figure that out, sweetheart."
Leo seemed satisfied.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny plastic dinosaur.
He held it toward Vincent.
"This is Captain Crunch."
Vincent accepted it with reverence.
"That's a good name."
"He's a triceratops."
"I can see that."
"No, you can't. You called him a dinosaur."
Vincent smiled.
"You're right. My mistake."
Leo folded his arms.
"You're not very good at dinosaurs."
"No," Vincent agreed. "But I'd like to learn."
I watched them.
The resemblance was heartbreaking.
The same dark hair.
The same serious expression.
The same habit of concentrating intensely when someone spoke.
For three years, I'd raised a boy who carried his father's face.
Now that father was kneeling before him, holding a plastic dinosaur as though it were the most precious object in the world.
I wanted to hate him.
Part of me still did.
But the rest of me remembered why I'd loved him.
And that frightened me almost as much as the threatening photograph.
Later, investigators reviewed security footage from the townhouse.
A gray vehicle had circled the block several times.
Its plates were registered to a shell company.
Vincent recognized the company name.
His expression darkened.
"What is it?" I asked.
"One of my uncle's businesses."
"Salvatore?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
My stomach turned.
The man who had secretly paid for my medical treatment after the crash.
The man who'd apparently known I survived.
The man whose company now seemed connected to surveillance of my son.
Vincent stared at the report.
May you like
Then he said something I had never expected to hear.
"I think my uncle has been lying to me for three years."
