“It was my mom’s,” he said. “She told me never to take it off… that one day… someone would recognize it.”
Adrian’s chest tightened.
Because he did recognize it.
From a night he had buried.
A woman he never forgot.
A disappearance he never understood.
The boy looked straight at him.
“Can you help me? I don’t have anywhere to go…”
For the first time in years—
Adrian Vale didn’t have an answer.
Something Was Very Wrong
A black car rolled slowly past.
Too slowly.
Tinted windows.
Watching.
Waiting.
Adrian noticed instantly.
His instincts sharpened.
This wasn’t random.
Not even close.
He shut the car door.
“No one’s taking you,” he said quietly. “But you’re going to tell me everything.”
The boy swallowed hard.
“If I tell you… will you send me away like everyone else?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Because something inside him had already begun connecting the pieces.
The pendant.
The timing.
The boy’s age…
No.
That would be impossible.
…Wouldn’t it?
The black car stopped behind them.
Doors began to open.
And in that second—
Adrian made a decision that would change his life forever.
“Get down,” he ordered. “Now.”
The engine roared.
But just before they pulled away, the boy whispered something that made Adrian’s blood run cold.