“The man from the street,” she said.

“The one who took Mama’s keys.”

Carl Brenner.

He hadn’t been arrested after all, or he had somehow bypassed the police at his office.

I looked at Paul, the cold dread settling deep in my stomach.

The phone in Paul’s pocket suddenly began to ring, the vibration loud in the quiet hospital room.

He pulled it out, his hand shaking as he looked at the screen.

“It’s Ethan’s number,” Paul said.

He pressed the button and put the phone to his ear.

“Ethan?” Paul said.

There was a pause, and then Paul’s face went completely blank.

He slowly lowered the phone from his ear, his fingers trembling.

“What did he say?” I asked, grabbing his sleeve.

“It wasn’t Ethan,” Paul said, his voice barely a whisper.

“It was Brenner.”

“He wants the flash drive.”

“And he has Ethan in the basement garage.”

The wind rattled the glass window of the hospital room, a sudden gust of winter air that made the frame creak.

Lauren looked at me, her small fingers tightening around her doll.

“Evelyn,” she said. “Is Daddy coming back?”