I sat on the couch beside him. “You are holding a shit ton of guilt, bro. That’s not healthy. You aren’t doing yourself any favors by beating yourself up.” Sebastian didn’t answer. I sighed, my frustration increasing. “You and Maddy were becoming friends before all this happened. I know you avoiding her is probably hurting both of you.”
Something I said must have broken through. The hard angles of his face softened, and his shoulders slumped. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll talk to her. I promise. Soon.”
“I’ve heard that before.”
“Ugh, I got it. For real this time.”
I gave him a decisive nod. “Cool. I’d have you do it right now, but she’s out shopping with Dad and Mateo.” I jabbed my finger into his arm. “Next time, though.”
Sebastian gave a rueful shake of his head and grinned at me. “Yes, Father.”
I smiled back at him, knowing we were okay. “All right, get the hell out of here. I’m tired of babysitting you.”
“Yeah, yeah. I need to get some work done on my yard anyway.” Sebastian gave me a quick hug before leaving.
Not long after, Luis called with another update. I didn’t have huge hopes, but as soon as I answered the phone, I could hear the excitement in his voice.
“Nico? Is Maddy there, too?” he asked.
“No, she’s out with Dad and Mateo. She told me she was going stir-crazy and needed to get out. Thought it was safer for her to go with two of them. What’s going on?”
“I think I’ve found something. Well… I guess I’ve found thelackof something. I can’t find any record of Gabriella Karson’s death.”
“What?” Chills ran up and down my arms. “No record at all?”
“No. I sent requests for records to every coroner and funeral home in and around Tampa. Took three days alone. Nothing. I got a hold of a guy I know of who ran a nationwide search. All I found were two matches. There’s a Gabriella Karson in Kansas who was ninety-seven and died of a stroke. Another was an infant in south Texas who died three days after she was born due to severe birth defects. One hundred percent not Maddy’s birth mother.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered, starting to believe that my theory might actually be right.
“It gets better,” Luis said. “I can’t find her name in any registries anywhere. The last place her name pops up is on an application for The University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. She never registered or attended. She vanishes without a trace at about the exact same time as the David Samuels murder.”
“Did you try name changes? Those are recorded.”
“Right, but if she changed her name, she didn’t do it the legal way. No records there. I even took the time to do what you guys did and searched every name combination I could come up with. Nothing came up that was the right age or race. I even went so far as to use facial recognition software on that yearbook photo. Nothing. It’s like she dropped right off the planet. I’ve never seen anything like it. If Kenneth really did help her disappear, the guywas fucking good. He was hidden well, but I was still able to find traces of him. This is a whole different level.”
You’d do anything for the person you loved. I thought about what I’d do to keep Maddy safe. How many hoops I’d jump through, the bribes I’d pay, the people I’d blackmail. I’d have done anything for her to be safe. I was certain Kenneth would have done the same if he’d loved Gabriella the same way. “What’s your next play?” I asked.
Luis sighed. “I’m still digging. If there is anything to find, I’ll get it. Anyway, I need you guys to think about something.”
My brow furrowed. “Us? What do you need?”
“Well, I was thinking last night that the one lead we never really pursued is still sitting right in front of us—Maddy’s adoptive parents.”
“Luis, they’re captured. How can they help us?”
“Theyareheld hostage, but their house isn’t. Those two people are the only ones who had contact with Kenneth, and I’m betting they may have had contact with Gabriella too. They lied to Maddy about a lot of stuff. I think you guys should go to their house and see what you can find. Old records, letters, anything that might give us some more information.”
It seemed silly that we hadn’t thought of checking there already. With all the chaos, it never crossed my mind. Maddy’s either, for that matter. I wasn’t sure it was going to lead to anything, but I decided we had to do our due diligence. Even a small clue might lead to bigger things. “Okay. When Maddy gets home, I’ll talk to her about it. If she’s cool with it, we’ll head out in the morning.”
“All right. I’ll let you know if I find anything else important.”
Maddy got home a few minutes after I hung up. Dad and Mateo hung around for a few minutes to help pack away the groceries before they left, but once we were alone, I pulledMaddy over to sit on the couch, and she turned her worried gaze on me. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I got off the phone with Luis a little while ago.”
