Chapter 10: What Marsh Did Next
He moved at three in the morning.
Dex knew because Colt had put two men on a quiet rotation past the Clearview property after Petra's visit — not close enough to trigger anything, just a slow pass every forty minutes.
At 3:14 a.m., the man on rotation called in: two vans pulling out of the rear of the property, no lights, moving fast toward the county highway.
Dex called Carver.
She picked up on the second ring.
He told her.
"How long ago?" she said.
"Eight minutes."
"Direction?"
"East on the county highway."
He heard movement on her end.
Voices.
Then she came back.
"I have two units in the area.
I'm redirecting them now." A pause.
"Dex — stay where you are."
"Carver—"
"I mean it.
If you're on that road and something goes wrong, it compromises everything.
Stay where you are."
He stayed.
It was the hardest thing he'd done in a long time.
He sat in the chapter house with Colt and Briggs and waited.
Lila was asleep upstairs.
The clock on the wall moved through 3:30, then 4:00, then 4:20.
At 4:31, Carver called back.
"We stopped both vans," she said.
"Eleven miles east.
A rest stop off the highway."
"And?"
"Seven children in the first van.
All minors.
All appearing to be in the age range consistent with the placement records." Her voice was controlled and professional and underneath it something that wasn't quite either of those things.
"The second van had two of Greer's associates and a set of filing boxes.
We have them."
"Marsh?"
"Not in either van.
He wasn't there." A pause.
"But we found a phone in the second van.
It's been active in the last hour.
We're pulling the call log now."
"He ran," Dex said.
"He ran," she confirmed.
"But he left his people behind, which means he left his evidence behind.
He panicked." Another pause.
"Dex.
The children — one of them, one of the older ones, when our agent asked her name, she said she didn't know what name she was supposed to use." Her voice stayed level.
"She said the man who ran the house told them their real names didn't matter anymore."
The room was very quiet.
Briggs put both hands over his face.
"The nine missing from the records," Dex said.
"We don't have a full picture yet.
But the children in that van — some of them have been there a long time." She paused.
"We're getting them medical attention now.
They're safe."
"Nora," he said.
"Not in either van." A pause.
"But the phone log from the second van shows a call made at 3:08 a.m.
to a number registered to a property in the next county.
We're running it now." Her voice dropped slightly.
"If she's there, we'll find her."
Dex stood up from the table and walked to the window.
The sky outside was starting to go from black to dark blue.
Just barely.
The first suggestion of morning.
"I want to be there," he said.
"When you go to that property.
I want to be there."
A long pause.
"You're not law enforcement," Carver said.
"I know."
Another pause.
Longer.
"Be at the county road junction by six," she said.
"Don't be late."
She hung up.
Colt was already on his feet.
"Go," he said to Dex.
"We've got the girl."
May you like
Dex looked toward the ceiling — toward the room where Lila was sleeping — for just a moment.
Then he went.
