Chapter 16 - THE GREEN HANDBAG
A photograph arrived from Evelyn's phone.
She sat in the passenger seat of a black SUV, frightened and clutching her green handbag. A small black device showed inside the open pocket.
The token.
Vanessa called. “Bring Claire's drive to Pier Nine.”
“Let my mother go.”
“Voss is following me. If he gets the ledger and the token, your mother becomes the last witness.”
Daniel could not tell where manipulation ended and truth began.
Noah entered the room, wearing the leather bracelet Claire had given him the morning she vanished.
“I'm coming,” he said.
“No.”
“Mom left those marks for me.”
“That doesn't make you responsible for fixing what adults broke.”
Noah's eyes hardened. “It makes me responsible for Grandma.”
Ruiz approved a controlled exchange, placing officers around the abandoned shipping yard.
As they drove toward the river, Evelyn sent one text from her phone.
May you like
Not words. A photograph of the green handbag lying open.
The token was gone.
