The camera zoomed closer.
“Then who was?”
A flicker of his parents’ kitchen flashed through his mind—Caroline kissing Davie’s forehead, his mother fussing over the diaper bag, Danny coming through the door still half in uniform.
None of that would fit into a sound bite.
David opened his mouth?—
Stopped.
For a second, something shifted behind his eyes.
He folded the plans once.
“This is a private jobsite. You’ll need to leave.”
The woman held her ground.
“Mr. Mercer, Caroline’s parents believe you know what happened to her.”
He’d seen the way her father had looked at him in those first weeks—like he wanted David to tell him where she was and wanted to kill him for not being able to.
“I said leave.”
The foreman stepped forward.
“You heard him.”
The reporters backed away slowly, but the camera kept rolling.
One of them called out as they reached the SUV.
“The internet’s reopening the case, Mr. Mercer!”
David stood motionless as the vehicles pulled away.
The jobsite had gone silent.
The foreman glanced at him.
“You okay, boss?”
David didn’t answer.
He reached into the truck and grabbed his phone.
Three missed calls.
One from his attorney.
Two from a board member.
New gravel crunch sounded on the access road.
Another vehicle turned in—a State Highway Patrol cruiser easing up the drive.
For a heartbeat, David’s shoulders tensed.
