The meeting ended without ceremony. No promises of immediate arrests. Just the quiet understanding that something had shifted. Mom had not simply answered questions; she’d pointed investigators toward a path.
Edwardo walked us back to the car in silence. The afternoon sun had already begun its descent behind the buildings when we pulled out of the garage.
For several minutes, none of us spoke as Edwardo guided the car back toward the highway. The city traffic thickened around us.
Mom finally exhaled slowly. “I wasn’t sure how much they were going to ask,” she admitted, her gaze fixed on the buildings passing outside her window. “About Darren. About the night everything happened. About what we saw.”
Confusion swirled in my chest. “That’s why you wanted me there?”
“I didn’t know if they were going to ask questions about how Darren died or what you witnessed that night.” Her expression softened slightly. “I’m sorry I pulled you into that without explaining it first.”
“No,” I answered quickly, though the explanation still felt disorienting. “It’s fine.” I hesitated before adding, “But don’t they already know about what you saw?”
“Nick does,” she replied.
Edwardo’s eyes lifted briefly to the rearview mirror before returning to the road. “He’s keeping his cards close,” he said evenly.
Mom glanced toward him.
Edwardo continued, his tone calm but certain. “I had him checked out. He isn’t going to turn on you. If he doesn’t want you discussing what you witnessed yet, there is a reason.”
I leaned back against the seat, watching the scenery race past the window.
The meeting suddenly made more sense. They hadn’t brought me there for answers. They’d brought me there in case the questions changed. “Do you think it’ll change anything?”
Her answer came without hesitation. “Yes.”
Edwardo glanced at her briefly. “They have a starting point now,” he added.
“That is all they needed.”
We went out to eat and did some shopping. By the time we reached home, dusk had begun to settle across the neighborhood.
Edwardo pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine. I stepped out of the car and couldn’t help but think how the meeting downtown had drawn a line that couldn’t be erased.
Darren’s disappearance had existed as a question buried beneath layers of secrecy. Today my mom had given that silence direction that hopefully would lead someone to dig further. And when they did, the people responsible for burying the truth might finally feel the ground begin to shift beneath them.
It was right after hockey practice when Luke called me. Marcus had found something—a charge on the card tied to Darren’s shell company. Three years paid in advance for a storage unit. Unit 47. Luke wanted me there. Marcus was already on his way to open it.
The storage facility sat off a narrow road, iron fencing and rows of beige metal doors stretching beneath a flat gray sky. Nothing scenic or inviting. Just concrete and gravel.
Luke’s SUV was parked near the edge of the lot. He stood a few feet from the driver’s side, pacing once before stopping when my car turned in. His attention locked on to me immediately. By the time I parked, he was already moving.
I barely had the door open before he was there. His hand closed around mine, steady and sure, guiding me out of the car. The second my feet hit the ground, he stepped in, his gaze sweeping over my face. Then his hand went to the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss.
When we parted, his hand stayed at my waist a second longer before he stepped back slightly. “Marcus is at the unit. He’s getting the lock open.”
Of course he was. I glanced past him toward the back row of doors. “Has anyone else been here?”
“Not that we’ve seen,” he replied evenly.
His eyes flicked to the roofline of the office then the pole near the entrance. Cameras. Old. Maybe working. Maybe not.
“But assume they are,” he added quietly.
The wind cut across the lot, making my hair dance behind me. Gravel shifted under my shoes as we walked side by sidetoward the rows of units. Whatever hid behind that metal door had been waiting longer than I had.
Luke reached out, fingers brushing mine, then lacing through them. Warmth spread up my arm, grounding my breathing.
