Chapter 4: The Man Behind Ryan
I showed Delgado the message.
He read it twice, then looked up.
"Forward it to me right now.
Don't respond."
I forwarded it.
He was already on his radio before I put the phone back in my pocket.
"Someone knows we're here," I said.
"Someone's been watching." He scanned the room, then the window.
"Or watching the boy."
We were back at the station within the hour.
The evidence bag went to the lab.
Delgado put a second officer on Evan.
I went to the room where Ryan was waiting for his lawyer and stood outside the glass.
Ryan sat with his arms folded, staring at the table.
He hadn't asked for water.
He hadn't asked for anything.
He was just waiting, the way someone waits when they've rehearsed this moment.
His lawyer arrived at four-fifteen.
A man named Garrett Foss — expensive suit, soft shoes, the kind of calm that gets paid for by the hour.
He went in alone first.
I watched through the glass.
Foss set his briefcase on the table and leaned close to Ryan.
Ryan said something.
Foss's expression didn't change.
He said something back.
Ryan's did.
Delgado appeared beside me.
"Lab got into the phone," he said quietly.
"It's Daniel's.
Last activity was fourteen months ago."
Fourteen months.
Not two years.
Which meant Daniel had been alive and active for seven months after he called Evan on the neighbor's phone.
"What was the last activity?"
"A voice memo.
Recorded the day before the last entry." Delgado paused.
"He was talking to someone.
We've got a partial voice match request in.
But Marcus — the memo mentions Ryan by name.
And it mentions a property transaction.
Something about a land parcel in Harwick County that Ryan transferred out of a joint account without Daniel's knowledge."
"Daniel and Ryan had a joint account?"
"Apparently they were business partners.
Before Daniel married Evan's mother.
Before any of this." He looked at me.
"Your brother didn't just stumble into Ryan's life.
They had history."
I hadn't known that.
In nine years, I hadn't known that.
"Why didn't it come up in the original missing persons investigation?"
Delgado said nothing.
Which was its own answer.
I went back to the glass.
Foss was still talking.
Ryan was listening now, very still, the way he'd gone still at the station when Evan showed me the note.
I went in.
Foss stood up immediately.
"My client is not answering questions at this time."
"I'm not here to question him." I pulled out a chair and sat down across from Ryan.
"I'm here to tell him what we found."
Ryan's eyes moved to me.
"We found the floorboard, Ryan.
We found the phone, the drive, and the deed." I kept my voice level.
"We know about the Harwick County parcel.
We know about the joint account."
Foss put a hand on Ryan's shoulder.
"Don't—"
"Daniel was my business partner," Ryan said.
"Whatever he told you, he was unstable.
He had problems.
Ask anyone who knew him."
"He had a son," I said.
"That boy came into my station today with bruises on his arms and a swollen face.
That's what I know about Daniel's problems."
Ryan's jaw tightened.
"That's a separate matter."
"Is it?"
He leaned forward slightly.
"Your brother owed me money.
A significant amount.
When I came to collect, he panicked and ran.
That's all this is.
A man who couldn't face his debts."
"And the deed with your signature forged over his?"
The word forged landed.
Foss's hand tightened on Ryan's shoulder.
Ryan sat back.
"I want to make a deal," he said.
Foss said, "Ryan—"
"I want to make a deal," Ryan repeated, louder, looking directly at me.
"I'll tell you where Daniel is.
In exchange for reduced charges on the child welfare matter."
The air in the room changed.
"Where is he?" I said.
Ryan smiled.
It was a small, controlled smile, the kind that knows exactly what it's holding.
"That's not how a deal works, Officer Marsh."
I stood up.
"Get me the DA," I said to Delgado through the glass.
"Now."
I walked out.
In the hallway, I stopped and put one hand flat against the wall.
He knew where Daniel was.
He'd been holding it the entire time, saving it, waiting to see how much it was worth.
My brother was somewhere.
And Ryan Calloway had known for nine years.
My phone buzzed again.
Same unknown number.
May you like
*You're going to want to drop this.
For the boy's sake.*
