"Who else has copies?"
Silence.
"Emily, I am trying to give you an opportunity to resolve this without further consequences."
She looked at him.
"You don't want to resolve anything. You want to erase it."
Voss's expression hardened.
"Be careful."
"No. You be careful."
Emily stood straighter despite the pain in her ribs.
"You have spent years believing that money makes you untouchable. You think people will always look away because you can buy a lawyer, donate to a hospital, or stand beside a politician for a photograph."
She pointed toward the folder.
"But the records still exist. And every person who has seen them is another person who can tell the truth."
Voss watched her for several seconds.
Then he closed the folder.
"Get some rest," he said. "We'll speak again in the morning."
He turned toward the door.
Emily spoke before he could leave.
"Did Caleb escape?"
Voss stopped.
For one brief moment, his face revealed something he had not intended to show.
Annoyance.
Not concern.
Not surprise.
Annoyance.
Emily understood.
They had not found her son.
He had escaped.
Voss turned slowly.
"If he has any sense, he'll stay hidden."
"He's thirteen," Emily said. "He has more sense than you."
The guard stepped forward, but Voss lifted his hand again.
"Leave her alone."
He walked out, and the door locked behind him.
Emily waited until his footsteps faded.
Then she sank onto the cot and covered her face with both hands.
Caleb was alive.
She did not know where he was, but she knew that Voss had not found him.
For the first time since the men had dragged her from her house, hope returned.
She whispered her son's name into the silence.
Then she began planning how to survive until he could bring help.
At three in the morning, Victor Hale received a call from the lawyer in the capital.
Her name was Evelyn Shaw. She had spent fifteen years handling civil rights cases, public corruption complaints, and disputes involving government agencies. She was known for asking uncomfortable questions and for refusing to accept a client's version of events without examining the available evidence.
Mason had worked with her once, years earlier, when a veteran was denied benefits because a county office had lost his medical records. Evelyn had helped recover the documents and forced the agency to reconsider its decision.
She had never met Victor, but she knew enough about the Iron Wolves to understand why a call from their clubhouse at three in the morning might be important.
"Tell me what you can," she said.
Victor explained that a thirteen-year-old boy had arrived at the clubhouse with injuries, that he feared being returned to certain adults, and that he carried documents potentially connected to public corruption.
He did not disclose the boy's full address or send the evidence through an unsecured channel.
Evelyn listened carefully.
"Has the child received medical attention?"
"Yes. A physician examined him and recommended further assessment."
"Then that remains the priority. I want you to document his condition, preserve the medical information through the proper channels, and avoid questioning him repeatedly about the same events. He needs a qualified child advocate, not a room full of adults asking him to relive the worst night of his life."
Victor accepted the criticism.
"Agreed."
"Second, do not investigate the alleged crimes yourselves. Preserve what he brought you, record who has handled it, and leave the originals untouched. I can arrange for an independent evidence custodian."
"What about the deputy sheriff?"
"If a local officer may be implicated, don't assume that every person in the department is corrupt. But don't assume the opposite, either. We need an independent assessment. I'll contact a state-level official whose office has authority to refer the matter outside the county."
"Can you help us find his mother?"
"I can make calls. But I need to know whether the child has given you a name, a last known location, or any information about the people who took her."
Victor explained what Caleb had said about Emily Morgan, Deputy Daniel Rusk, and Richard Voss.
Evelyn became quiet when she heard Voss's name.
"Richard Voss?" she repeated.
"You know him?"
"I know of him. His companies have been involved in several redevelopment projects. There have been questions about contract awards, but I cannot tell you that those questions establish wrongdoing."
"Can you investigate the connection?"
"I can help identify the appropriate authorities and make sure the evidence reaches someone with the authority to examine it. But Victor, listen carefully. If this is what you suspect, the people involved may have resources you don't fully understand. Don't turn this into a confrontation. Your job tonight is to keep the child safe."
Victor looked through the office doorway toward the main room.
Caleb was asleep again, curled beneath the blanket with Bear sitting nearby.
"That's what we're doing," Victor said.
"Good. I'll call you back as soon as I have a safe way to proceed."
The call ended.
Victor stood in the office for another minute, considering everything that had happened.
Then he returned to the main room and found Bear staring at the television.
A late-night news bulletin had interrupted a rerun of an old movie.
The headline read: COUNTY OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE RECORDS THEFT IN BLACKRIDGE.
A photograph of Emily Morgan appeared beside the anchor.
Victor turned up the volume.
The reporter explained that county authorities were investigating the disappearance of confidential documents from a government office. According to an unnamed source, the missing records might have been connected to a financial review involving several public redevelopment projects.
Emily Morgan was described as a former county employee who had recently been reported missing.
The report said investigators were considering the possibility that she had taken documents without authorization.
No mention was made of her injuries.
No mention was made of Caleb.
And no mention was made of the threats she had allegedly received.
Bear stared at the screen.
"They're getting ahead of the story."
Victor nodded.
"They want people thinking about stolen records instead of asking why she disappeared."
The reporter continued, explaining that officials had not confirmed whether the missing documents contained evidence of criminal activity.
A statement attributed to Richard Voss appeared at the bottom of the screen. He expressed concern about the disappearance and offered his company's full cooperation with the investigation.
Victor felt disgust rise in his throat.
Voss had apparently spent the last several hours preparing a public explanation while Emily remained locked in an unknown room.