Birthday visits refused.
Texts unanswered.
The Christmas gifts left on Reena’s porch the year before.
The time she told him Drew had the flu, but he later saw a photo online of Reena at a cookout without either child.
Each fact had once seemed too small to accuse anyone with.
Together, they became a shape Peter could not unsee.
The older officer asked for Reena’s address.
Peter gave it.
The same house he had visited again and again.
The same porch where Reena had smiled and blocked the doorway with her body.
The same house where Aaron’s children had been hidden in plain sight.
The officer stepped aside and spoke into his radio.
“Possible child confinement. Possible medical neglect. We need units at the residence.”
Drew heard enough to understand.
