Then VinnieGallo.
Nope.
“Raven?”I try it.Wrong again.
After several more composers and musical terms fail, I type Daniela.
The desktop opens.
Raven’s hand flies to her mouth.“Oh, honey.”
I don’t let myself feel it.Not yet.I sit.“I’m in.I’ll be careful.”
Raven edges closer.“The detective really would’ve done this if we’d asked.”
“They would have,” I say, navigating toSystem Settings > Printers.“But we can’t even get an Amber Alert.She’s technically a runaway for a few more hours.”I clickPrint Queue.“And I amnotgiving the clock a head start.”
The job history populates—sheet music titles, a geography worksheet, a sloppy short story about a heroic golden retriever saving a ballerina from a volcano.My throat tightens.I scroll.Until?—
Document (1 page)with no title, stamped with the time.
I point to the log.“Whoever printed the note did it about an hour before I found it.Which means someone was in here, at this desk, while you were in your room.”
Raven’s color drains.“We were ten yards away.”
“Or Belinda herself printed it,” Vinnie says.“Then left.”
“She didn’t.”I shake my head.“This is an adult’s cadence pretending to be a kid.And the timing is too well placed.”
Vinnie’s already tapping his phone, jumping feeds, calling up door sensors, cross-checking.“Nobody crosses a threshold without tripping something,” he says, more to himself than to us.“Unless they were let in.Or they never left to begin with.”
A quiet, mean little thought settles in my gut.I minimize the print queue and open Belinda’s browser.The history is long, childish, everyday.
How to grow strawberries in pots,
Debussy Clair de Lune
Dogs that don’t shed
What happens when you swallow gum?
But then, more recent?—
Declan McAllister news
Declan McAllister daughter
What is racketeering?
What does extradited mean?
Raven makes a soft, wounded sound.“We promised we’d wait,” she whispers.“We told her the truth would be there when she was ready.She’d already been through so much at his hands.”
“She’s been ready,” I say.“Curiosity doesn’t wait for birthdays.”
A lot of the links are glossy profiles—philanthropy photos, golf tournament coverage, Declan smiling with a senator.The whitewashed story.She never made it past the first page of search results.
“I’ll talk to her about how to vet sources,” Raven says, and then flinches at her own words.“God.I’m talking like she’s in the next room and this is a fucking homework assignment.”
