“Must have,” Thorne agreed. He took a slow step forward. “But see, the thing is, our legal team just got a call from the desk sergeant. Seems you didn't just come for keys. You asked for five minutes alone with our stolen property. I have to wonder what you were really looking for, David.”
“Just trying to keep my job, Greg. You know how expensive the replacement fee is for the master fobs.”
I took a step toward the exit, forcing Thorne to either move aside or actively block me. He held his ground. For three agonizing seconds, we stared at each other. He was weighing whether he could make me disappear right here in a police garage. But I was still on the right side of the precinct fence, and Larson was fifty yards away.
Thorne finally stepped aside, a cold, dead smile on his face. “Have a good evening, David. I wouldn’t bother coming in for your shift tomorrow. Your services at the plaza are no longer required.”
I walked past him, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up until I cleared the heavy bay doors.
I didn't go home. Going home meant putting Maya in danger. I pulled into a crowded diner parking lot, sitting in the sweltering cab of my truck with the broken AC, piecing it together.
Chloe Vance had a fifty-million-dollar trust fund. I had read about it in the local business journals years ago. If she died, the money passed to her child. If the child died, control of the trust reverted entirely to her father, Richard. And lately, rumors had been swirling that Vance’s real estate empire was heavily leveraged, on the brink of catastrophic collapse.
He didn't just hate Elias for getting his daughter pregnant. He needed Leo dead to save himself.
But where was Chloe?
I had to talk to Elias. I drove to the county holding facility, flashing my retired badge and calling in a favor with a desk sergeant to get into the visitation block.
Elias was sitting behind a thick pane of scratched plexiglass, wearing an orange jumper. He looked broken, his hands trembling on the counter. I picked up the phone.
“Elias,” I said. “I have the photo. I have the birth certificate.”
He looked up, his eyes widening with a desperate, fractured hope. “Is Leo... is my boy alive?”
“He’s alive. He's stable. The hospital has him under police guard.” I leaned closer to the glass. “Elias, you need to tell me what happened. Why did Vance say the car was stolen?”
Tears spilled over Elias's dirt-streaked face. “Because he thinks I’m just a homeless junkie nobody will believe. I haven't been homeless, David. I’ve been hiding. Six months ago, Chloe figured out her father was embezzling from her accounts to cover his bad debts. She threatened to expose him. That night, her car went off the coastal highway. They said it was an accident. They never found her body.”
Elias swallowed hard, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. “I knew he killed her. I took Leo and ran. We’ve been living in my car, moving from town to town. But Vance’s private security—Thorne’s guys—they found us this morning at a motel. I managed to slip away, but they got Leo. I tracked Vance’s SUV to the plaza using a GPS tag I slipped under his bumper months ago. When I found the car, I saw Leo strapped inside. The windows were up. The engine was off. He was just leaving him there to bake, and he was going to blame it on a car thief.”
A sickening knot formed in my stomach. “If Vance’s lawyers get you transferred to county general population tonight, Thorne’s people will kill you in a holding cell before trial. You’ll die, they’ll rule Leo’s death an accident or blame you, and Vance gets fifty million dollars.”