My throat tightens.I hate that he can read me so easily.
I grab my laptop off the counter and open it.“He had to be in our house around the time the note was printed, right?”
“Unless he had help,” Hawk says.
I stop typing.“Who would help him?”
“I don’t know.Vinnie says her nanny is the only staff member unaccounted for after that time.”
My stomach twists.“Natalie?No.She wouldn’t.”
He shrugs.“Then we rule her out.Pull up her social media.”
I search her name—nothing recent.Last post was a sunset photo three days ago.I scroll through comments, hoping for something, anything, that stands out.
“Wait.”I zoom in on the photo.A reflection glints in the window glass behind her—part of a logo on a van.“That’s not her car.”
Hawk leans over my shoulder.“Can you enhance it?”
“Not much.”I adjust the brightness.The wordsSwift Courier Serviceappear faintly.“Delivery company?”
“I’ll find out,” he says, pulling out his phone.
I keep scrolling while he talks.My pulse is loud in my ears.Every instinct in me is screaming that we’re missing something obvious—that the note, the DHS visit, the timing, all of it connects.
When Hawk hangs up, I ask, “Well?”
“Swift Courier doesn’t exist.No record, no tax ID, no website.”
“Fake company,” I murmur.
“Which means fake van.”
I look up at him.“You think he used that to get close?”
He nods.“Probably.”
The room tilts.“Oh my God.”
“Hey.”Hawk steps closer.“We’re going to find her.”
I nod, though I’m not sure I believe it.“Then we start with every security feed within five miles.If there was a van, we’ll see it.”
“I’ve got people who can do that,” he says.
We fall into silence again.My hands are trembling, so I press them flat against the counter.
There’s so much between us—anger, longing, guilt—and none of it matters right now.
“I don’t care about my status,” I say finally.“If they want to deport me, fine.But not before I find her.”
“You won’t be deported.”
I want to believe him, but there’s still a possibility the threat is real.I sigh.“Raven and Vinnie think it’s fabricated.Maybe to rattle us.”
He frowns.“I’m pretty sure they’re right.The timing is all too convenient.”
I only nod.
I hope he’s right.
I hope a lot of things.
