Daniel knew.
Dean knew.
That meant Daniel had allowed me to collect money based on a false death.
Another crime.
Another reason to hide.
Canadian police finally located David Mercer.
A coastal town outside Halifax.
Small repair shop.
House near the water.
The owner was fifty-two.
Daniel would now be fifty-two.
Photograph arrived.
I stared.
Older.
Gray in his beard.
But him.
Alive.
My legs gave out.
Sophie caught me.
Then more photographs.
Three young men.
One twenty.
One seventeen.
One fifteen.
Caleb.
Mason.
Jacob.
My sons.
Alive.
My sons had faces I did not recognize.
Caleb was a man.
Mason taller than Daniel.
Jacob almost grown.
I touched the screen.
Six years disappeared between photographs.
The police asked if I wanted them approached immediately.
“Yes.”
Then I stopped.
“What if they run?”
“We’ll coordinate.”
Daniel was detained quietly.
Not dragged from the house.
The boys were questioned separately.
Caleb was twenty.
Legally adult.
Mason and Jacob minors under Canadian law at the time of relocation but older now.
Their statements broke me.
Caleb knew from the beginning that they were disappearing.
He was fourteen.
Daniel told him the family was in danger.
Caleb believed him.
He argued.
Wanted to tell me.
Daniel said contacting me could get Sophie killed.
So Caleb stayed silent.
Mason and Jacob believed the boating accident was part of a witness-protection-style plan.
Daniel lied to them.
He told them authorities knew.
He told them I knew they were safe.
My heart shattered.
Mason thought I chose not to contact them.
Jacob barely remembered the truth.
Daniel had manipulated all of us.
The first call happened two days later.
Video.
Secure.
I sat with Sophie.
Emma.
Lily.
All three daughters.
The screen connected.
Caleb appeared first.
I stopped breathing.
My son.
His face had Daniel’s beard now.
But his eyes were still mine.
He whispered.
“Mom.”
I broke.
I could not speak.
He cried too.
“Mom.”
I touched the screen.
“My baby.”
He laughed through tears.
“I’m twenty.”
“I don’t care.”
Then Mason appeared.
Then Jacob.
The girls screamed.
Everyone cried.
No meaningful words for several minutes.
Then Mason asked.
