Carol looked at the screen.
"How big?"
Harker opened another file.
A list of names filled the screen.
Twenty-three people.
Then forty.
Then eighty.
"These are missing-person reports."
Maya stood behind him.
"How many?"
Harker looked at her.
"One hundred and twelve."
Maya covered her mouth.
Carol stared at the screen.
Then she saw something.
One name.
Sarah Bell.
Seventeen.
Missing from Flagstaff six years earlier.
Carol remembered Elena's voice.
She had mentioned Sarah.
The girl everyone believed had run away.
Maya pointed.
"That's her."
Carol looked at her.
"You know her?"
"My mother talked about her."
Harker frowned.
"What did she say?"
"She said Sarah was alive."
Everyone in the room became silent.
Harker asked:
"Where?"
Maya shook her head.
"I don't know."
Carol looked at the files.
"Then we find her."
Harker stared at her.
"You understand what you're saying?"
"Yes."
"This could put you in danger."
Carol looked toward Maya.
"We're already in danger."
Maya nodded.
Harker finally sighed.
"Then let's find out what Elena was trying to expose."
He opened the next file.
It contained a single photograph.
Three men stood outside an abandoned motel.
One was Frank.
One was Roy.
The third was an older man with gray hair and a scar across his cheek.
Maya recognized him immediately.
"Victor Kane."
Carol knew the name.
Everyone did.
Victor Kane owned transportation companies.
He donated money to hospitals.
He sponsored youth programs.
He appeared at charity dinners.
He was photographed beside politicians.
And according to Elena Torres, he was the man at the center of the entire network.
Harker leaned back.
"We need him."
Carol looked at the photograph.
"Then let's hope he doesn't know we're looking."
A phone rang.
Everyone turned.
It was Maya's.
The number was unknown.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
"Tell Carol to stop digging."
Maya froze.
Carol watched her face change.
The voice continued.
"If she doesn't, your brother dies."
The call ended.
Maya lowered the phone.
Carol stood.
"What did he say?"
Maya looked at her.
"They know we're looking."
THE MOTEL
At 10:18 p.m., the police found the abandoned motel.
It sat twelve miles north of Flagstaff, hidden behind a line of pine trees and an old gas station that had been closed for years.
The sign read:
PINE RIDGE MOTOR COURT
Only three letters still worked.
The rain had turned the dirt road into mud.
Harker drove the first patrol vehicle.
Two more followed.
Carol was not supposed to be there.
Neither was Maya.
But when Maya heard that police were going to the motel, she refused to stay behind.
"I know where Nico will be."
Harker stared at her.
"You don't."
"I do."
"How?"
"Because Frank always talked about a place where nobody asks questions."
Carol interrupted.
"Let her come."
Harker looked at her.
"This isn't your call."
"No."
Carol nodded.
"But she knows something you don't."
That was enough.
Maya rode with Carol.
Neither spoke much during the drive.
Rain struck the windshield.
Headlights cut through darkness.
Finally Maya whispered:
"Do you think my brother is alive?"
Carol didn't answer immediately.
Then she said:
"Yes."
"You don't know that."
"No."
"Then why say it?"
"Because someone has to."
Maya looked out the window.
"I used to hate my mother."
Carol glanced at her.
"Why?"
"She was always afraid."
"Fear isn't a crime."
"It made everything harder."
Maya swallowed.
"When my father left, she became obsessed with locks. Doors. Windows. She checked them five times before bed."
Carol understood.
"She wasn't afraid for herself."
"No."
Maya looked at Carol.
"She was afraid for me."
The convoy turned off the highway.
The motel appeared ahead.
Every building was dark.
Harker raised a hand.
The officers stopped.
Maya pointed.
"Room seven."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Harker looked at the officers.
They moved forward.
The door to Room Seven was locked.
Harker knocked.
"Police."
No answer.
He knocked again.
Then kicked the door.
It flew open.
The room was empty.
A chair lay overturned.
A rope hung from the ceiling.
There were bloodstains on the floor.
Maya screamed.
"Nico!"
She tried to run inside.
Carol grabbed her.
"Wait."
Maya fought against her.
"That's his blood!"
"We don't know that."
"It is!"
Harker crouched near the stain.
He touched nothing.
Then he noticed something.
A sneaker.
Under the bed.
He pulled it out.
Maya recognized it immediately.
"Nico."
Her voice broke.
Harker stood.
"We'll find him."
Maya shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"He was here."
Harker nodded.
"Yes."
"But he isn't now."
Carol looked around.
Something felt wrong.
The room had been staged.
Too clean.
Too deliberate.
Then she noticed the wall.
There was writing scratched into the paint.
Three letters.
H.C.R.
Carol walked closer.
Harker stopped her.
"Don't touch it."
She didn't.
But she read it.
"Hollow Creek Railway."
Harker frowned.
"What?"
Carol pointed.
"H.C.R."
Maya turned.
"What does it mean?"
Carol shook her head.
"I don't know."
Maya stared at the letters.
Then her expression changed.
"My mother used to talk about it."
"What?"
"Hollow Creek Railway."
Harker frowned.
"Is that a real railway?"
"No."
"Then what is it?"
Maya whispered:
"A network."
The room went silent.
Then headlights appeared outside.
Everyone turned.
A vehicle was approaching.
Fast.
Too fast.
Harker shouted:
"Down!"
The headlights swung toward the building.
A vehicle slammed through the motel entrance.
Glass exploded.
Officers scattered.
Gunshots cracked through the rain.
Carol pulled Maya behind a concrete wall.
Maya screamed.
Harker returned fire.
The vehicle reversed.
Its tires spun in mud.
Then it disappeared into darkness.
Harker ran outside.
"Nobody follow!"
He stopped.
On the ground lay a black duffel bag.
Carol stared at it.
Something about the bag looked familiar.
Maya whispered:
"That's my mother's."
Harker approached carefully.
He opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Old documents.
A cassette tape.
And a photograph of Elena Torres.
She stood beside three men.
One was Frank Delinger.
Another was Roy Sutter.
The third man was Victor Kane.
Maya picked up the photograph.
"She knew him."
Harker nodded.
"Looks like it."
Carol noticed another photograph underneath.
It showed Elena standing beside a teenage girl.
The girl had blonde hair.
A scar above her eyebrow.
Maya stared.
"Sarah."
Carol looked at her.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
Harker took the photograph.