“Can you describe it to me?” he asked.
“Just a small box. Brown. About this size.” She held her hands out to show the size.
“Is it sort of like the one you pushed behind the bench when we came up here?” Londyn asked.
Nicole’s eyes widened.
Ruth locked gazes with her daughter. “Nicole, did you take the package? Is that what this is about? Is that why you didn’t want to tell me what happened?”
“I just wanted to see what was so special that someone delivered it by drone. So I hurried over there to see. But I heard someone inside, so I took it and ran.” She looked up at her mother. “I was going to put it back. Honest. I wasn’t stealing. But then you came home and made me come help with dinner. So I couldn’t do it without you finding out. And I couldn’t tell you.”
“Why not just put it back before helping with dinner?” Londyn asked.
“Ty was home, and I didn’t want him to catch me.”
“But you’ve had a few days to give it back,” her mother said.
“He’s been home all this time. So has everyone else.”
“Can we see the box?” Londyn asked.
Nicole grabbed it and handed it to Londyn like she was passing off a hot potato. Londyn immediately held it out for Ian to see. The cardboard box sealed with packing tape had the neighbor’s name handwritten in black marker, just like the way Malone’s name had been written on her package. That wasn’t what had Ian almost falling out of the treehouse. It was the name on the package.
Ian met Londyn’s gaze and saw that her mouth was hanging open.
“Is there something we should know?” Ruth asked.
Ian shook his head, but there reallywassomething they needed to know. The box was addressed to Tirone Olivo, whom Ian now assumed went by Ty with his neighbors. The box also had the word PROOF printed in big red letters across the top. Similar to Malone’s package, but the handwriting didn’t match the box she received.
Ian swallowed to calm his excitement and looked at Ruth. “I noticed you have security cameras around the property. I’d like to get a copy of any events it might’ve recorded to see if there are other drone sightings.”
“I can get that for you,” Ruth said. “But I’ve never gotten an alert that included a drone.”
Despite Malone’s neighbor catching the drone on camera, Ian knew whoever flew the drone would try to avoid cameras, and if Nicole hadn’t been watching, no one would ever have known about the delivery.
Ian handed over his business card. “Send the picture and video to this email address. Do it immediately if you can.”
“Yeah, we can do that.” Ruth turned the card over and over in her hands, studying it with eyes that were wide with concern.
“Thank you for telling us about the box, Nicole,” Londyn said. “We’ll take it with us and make sure your neighbor gets it back.”
“Will you tell Ty I took it? He’ll be mad when he finds out. He pretends to be a nice guy, but I’ve seen him be mean to his kids and to other people too.”
Ruth’s gaze shot to her daughter. “You never told me that.”
“I couldn’t.” Nicole scooted away from her mother. “I was watching him in his backyard from up here. You told me not to.”
Ruth studied her daughter’s face, her hands clenched in her lap. “Sounds like we have some things to talk about.”
“You should do that,” Ian said, eager to leave and find out what the box contained. “And if there’s anything we need to know, give us a call.”
Nicole looked at him, her eyes wide. “Am I going to get arrested for stealing?”
“Not this time, but in the future, don’t take things that don’t belong to you. And don’t worry about telling Ty about this. We’d prefer to keep this information quiet for now,” Ian said, but deep down he was glad she took the box. She might’ve taken something that would break this investigation wide open, and for that, he couldn’t fault her.
Ian was desperate for a lead, and he was sure he’d held one in his hands. He’d wanted to rip the box open and ignore the legal ramifications. But before Londyn even got a word out telling him not to do it, he’d come to his senses and put the box in the back seat.
Still, as he raced for the office, he kept looking in the rearview mirror to be sure he hadn’t imagined the child turning over the box.
