Chapter 2 - The Debt Dominic Vale Never Forgot
“Inside,” Dominic said.
Kaye didn't move.
The stranger at the end of the street remained beside the car.
He was older than Dominic, perhaps sixty, with white hair and a cane.
“Who is he?”
Dominic's gaze never left him.
“Someone from before.”
“Before what?”
“Everything.”
Kaye grabbed Dominic's sleeve.
“My son is missing. I don't care about your history.”
That reached him.
Dominic turned.
“You're right.”
He ordered Mateo to organize the search.
Within minutes, twenty men divided Cedar Ridge into sectors.
No shouting.
No chaos.
Dominic's organization moved with frightening precision.
Two men checked traffic cameras.
Three searched wooded trails.
Four visited gas stations.
Others began interviewing neighbors.
Kaye watched from her porch.
“You've done this before.”
“Found people?”
“Yes.”
Dominic hesitated.
“Not always for good reasons.”
The white-haired stranger was gone.
Kaye hadn't seen his car leave.
“Who was he?”
“August Vale.”
“Vale?”
“My uncle.”
“You thought he was dead?”
“I attended his funeral.”
Kaye stared.
Dominic looked at Toby's bicycle.
“This isn't random anymore.”
He finally showed her the watch.
Beneath his father's initials someone had scratched:
THE BOY PAYS THE DEBT.
Kaye's knees nearly gave way.
Dominic caught her.
“Don't.”
“Don't what?”
“Blame yourself.”
She shoved his hand away.
“You brought this to my child.”
The words landed hard.
Dominic didn't defend himself.
“Yes.”
That answer hurt worse.
Kaye walked inside.
Dominic followed only after she left the door open.
“Toby has nothing to do with you.”
“I know.”
“He gave you a Band-Aid.”
“I remember.”
“He thought you were hurt.”
“I remember everything.”
Kaye turned.
“Then bring him home.”
Dominic looked directly at her.
“I will.”
Mateo entered.
“We've got something.”
He held Toby's backpack.
Inside the lining was a small GPS tracker.
Not recently planted.
The adhesive showed weeks of wear.
Someone had been following Toby long before his disappearance.
Kaye covered her mouth.
“How?”
Mateo placed another object on the table.
A receipt.
Mercer's Kettle.
Dated three weeks earlier.
On the back was a handwritten number.
Dominic stared.
“What does it mean?” Kaye asked.
He didn't answer.
“Dominic.”
“Route 17.”
“The abandoned highway?”
He nodded.
Mercer's Kettle sat beside the old highway.
Seventeen miles north stood an abandoned textile mill.
Dominic ordered the men into vehicles.
Kaye grabbed her shoes.
“You're staying.”
“No.”
“Kaye.”
“That's my son.”
“And if this is a trap—”
“Then somebody needs to explain to whoever built it that they picked the wrong mother.”
Dominic almost argued.
Then remembered their first night.
“Stay beside me.”
They drove north.
The mill emerged beyond dead trees.
No lights.
No vehicles.
Mateo entered first with several men.
Five minutes later, he returned.
“Empty.”
Kaye pushed past him.
Inside were broken machines and decades of dust.
“Toby!”
Her voice echoed.
Nothing.
Then she saw something blue.
A sneaker.
Toby's.
Kaye ran.
Dominic caught up as she reached an old office.
The sneaker lay beside a chair.
On the desk sat a photograph.
Kaye picked it up.
It showed Toby leaving school.
On the back someone had written:
HE LOOKS LIKE MICHAEL.
“Who's Michael?” Kaye demanded.
Dominic didn't answer.
She grabbed his coat.
“Who's Michael?”
“My brother.”
Kaye froze.
“My son's middle name is Michael.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Dominic's expression became unreadable.
“I didn't.”
A telephone rang.
Not a cell phone.
An old landline on the office desk.
Everyone stared.
It rang again.
Kaye reached for it.
Dominic caught her wrist.
Third ring.
She pulled free.
“My child.”
She answered.
“Toby?”
Breathing.
Then a boy whispered.
“Mom?”
Kaye nearly collapsed.
“Toby! Baby, where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“Look around.”
“It's dark.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Dominic motioned for Mateo to trace the call.
Toby whispered again.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“The man says he knows Dad.”
Kaye's blood chilled.
“Toby, don't listen to him.”
“He says Dad didn't leave us.”
Kaye stopped.
Her ex-husband had vanished six years earlier.
Everyone believed he had run away.
Including Kaye.
“Toby, listen carefully—”
Footsteps sounded through the receiver.
Toby gasped.
“Mom, he's coming.”
The line went dead.
Kaye screamed his name.
Mateo stared at his phone.
“We got the location.”
“Where?”
He turned toward Dominic.
And for the first time, Mateo looked afraid.
“The call came from inside your house.”
Dominic slowly raised his head.
His home had been locked for hours.
May you like
His guards were still there.
And someone had just called from a room none of them were supposed to know existed...
