Chapter 6: What Marsh Was Really Hiding
I sat down on the edge of the bed.
Noah had fallen asleep during the film, curled on his side with one arm under his pillow.
I looked at him for a moment before I spoke.
"The little girl," I said quietly.
"The one with Vera."
"We're working on it."
"That's not an answer."
Reyes pulled a chair close and sat.
"What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room tonight.
Not to your daughter, not to anyone.
Can you agree to that?"
"Tell me first."
She held my gaze.
Then she nodded, accepting that.
"Gerald Marsh has been under federal surveillance for four months.
He's connected to a network that moves money across state lines using shell transactions — fake purchases, fake vendors, accounts that open and close inside forty-eight hours.
The device under the chair was a data relay.
A physical drop point for encrypted transfer codes.
Someone was supposed to collect it after Noah walked away."
"Someone who was watching."
"Yes.
The man from Tuesday.
His name is Anton Selby.
We picked him up an hour ago two blocks from the hotel."
I exhaled.
"So it's over."
"Marsh and Selby are in custody.
The relay device has been secured." She paused.
"But Vera Holst checked out before we identified her.
And the little girl checked out with her."
"Who is the child?"
Reyes was quiet for just a moment too long.
"We don't know yet."
The words landed like something cold.
"You don't know."
"We're pulling the hotel registration records.
The name she used — we believe it's false.
We have her on camera.
We're running it now."
I looked at Noah sleeping.
"He walked right next to Gerald Marsh for four minutes," I said.
"He pointed to where the device was hidden.
If someone had been watching and thought he'd seen something he shouldn't have—"
"He was never a target," Reyes said firmly.
"He was a tool.
There's a difference."
"He's ten years old."
"I know."
"And that little girl—"
"We are looking for her." Reyes leaned forward.
"I need you to stay calm tonight.
I need you to sleep if you can.
Your daughter arrives in the morning and I will speak with her directly.
Tomorrow we will sit down together and I will tell you everything I'm able to tell you."
"And what you're not able to tell me?"
She stood.
"I'll tell you as much as I can." She moved toward the door, then stopped.
"You did the right thing tonight.
Showing me that message immediately — that gave us the connection to Vera faster than we would have found it otherwise."
She left.
I sat in the quiet room with my sleeping grandson and the low sound of the television and I did not sleep for a very long time.
At 2:14 in the morning, my phone lit up.
A message from Reyes.
*We found her.
She's safe.
More in the morning.*
I didn't know who the little girl was.
May you like
I didn't know what safe meant in full, or what came next.
But I set the phone down and closed my eyes.
