Luis was at the desk, looking tired but alert.

“Are you alright, Captain?” he asked.

“I’m fine, Luis,” I said.

“Thank you for last night.”

“Just doing my job, sir,” he said.

“The police have extra patrols in the area today.”

“Good,” I said.

“I don’t expect any more visitors.”

I took the elevator up to my apartment.

The silence of my living room was a relief.

I sat on the sofa and looked at my tablet.

A notification popped up.

It was an email from an unknown address.

I opened it.

It was from Linda.

The subject line read: *Please, Mark. We need to talk.*

I hesitated, remembering Sarah’s advice.

I clicked on the email to read it, keeping my finger ready to forward it to my lawyer.

“Mark,” the message began.

“I know you are angry, and you have every right to be.”

“But Hannah is in pieces.”

“Luke has vanished, and the people he owes money to are threatening us.”

“We only wanted to protect the children.”

“I never meant to hurt your career, I was just desperate.”

“Please call me. We are family.”