Chapter 40
CHAPTER FORTY
LINCOLN
Idon’t launch straight into it, and definitely not with Nora pressed happily against Hazel’s side—not with Zack pretending he isn’t listening while very much listening to everything.
Nora is sprawled half across the booth, coloring Zack’s arm with the seriousness of someone performing a sacred duty.
Hazel treats every choice like it matters, leans in, asks questions, praises color combinations like they’re museum-worthy.
Nora eats it up, glancing between them like she’s collecting proof that this is the best night of her life; her beaming little face and her auburn curls bouncing as she takes in the absolute attention that these two are giving her.
I let it breathe for a minute. Normal is fragile. You don’t shatter it unless you have to, and my baby girl deserves the world.
But eventually, Zack’s eyes flick to me. It’s subtle. A silent now.
I slide my phone onto the table and rotate it so they can see. The screen lights up with maps layered over each other, data points clustered and circled, weeks of sleepless nights distilled into something that finally looks coherent.
“I found them,” I say quietly. “Or close enough that I’m willing to say it out loud.”
Hazel’s smile fades, but she doesn’t pull away from Nora. She just stills, attention sharpening. Zack leans forward, his forearms braced on the table, all the ease draining out of him without turning into panic.
“Cameron and Leyla didn’t disappear the way everyone thought,” I continue. “They didn’t die—they were contained.”
I zoom in, narrowing the map to a stretch of industrial land north of the river, Old shipping corridors.
Warehouses that haven’t officially existed in years.
“Leyla’s last digital footprint didn’t drop off—it flattened.
No signal noise. No bleed. Like someone threw a blanket over her entire presence. ”
Zack’s jaw tightens. “On purpose.”
“Very,” I say. “Private power routing. RF dampening. Ownership passed through shell companies so fast it looks like static unless you know where to stare.”
Hazel finally speaks. “Where?”
I tap the screen.
“A warehouse. I’m ninety percent sure.”
The number isn’t guesswork. It’s earned. And they both know it.
Zack exhales slowly, controlled. “Alive?”
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “If they wanted them dead, they wouldn’t have gone to this much trouble.
Being dead doesn’t normally send people on witch hunts to find living people.
Especially ones where their death was deemed an accident.
” My voice is softer than I’m known for, but strong enough for Hazel to realize I mean it.
Hazel nods once, absorbing it, her fingers absentmindedly tracing circles on Nora’s back as the little girl hums to herself.
“There’s something else,” I add, hesitating just a fraction longer than usual.
Zack notices immediately. “What?”
I switch screens, pulling up an older file. A cold case I mentioned weeks ago and never let go of.
“The missing child,” I say. “The one that should have been all over the news, but was only brought up the one time by, now here’s the kicker, Detective Alexandra Harris.”
“Wait? Alex?” Hazel looks up sharply. “And—and wait was this the one that you said didn’t make sense.”
“Because it didn’t,” I reply. “Age range was wrong. Digital footprint too clean. No family follow-up that added up. No one searched any further into this disappearance for this infant.”
I take a breath. “I cross-referenced that case with Leyla’s early records. Like after the time of her parents’ deaths? It was all just too fucking confusing and you know me, I fucking hate unanswered questions.”
Zack’s eyes darken. “Lincoln.”
“I’m almost certain,” I say quietly, “that the missing child was Leyla.”
The table goes silent.
Hazel’s hand stills on Nora’s back. “You’re saying…That Leyla’s parents weren’t actually her parents, and that she was kidnapped this whole time?”
“Or being hidden,” I say. “Or being moved. That child vanished from official systems years ago. No death record. No recovery. Just…erased. And Leyla’s birth certificate just doesn’t make sense, and to this day just felt wrong to me.
It came with so many gaps that don’t line up unless you assume she learned survival the hard way. ”
Zack leans back slowly, processing. “Which means whoever took them now didn’t just stumble onto her.”
“No,” I agree. “They already knew who she was. That she was taken and used as collateral for something even bigger than what we know about her.”
As if she can feel the tension building around us, Nora suddenly looks up, holding Zack’s arm proudly. “I made him safe,” she announces again, like it bears repeating.
Hazel smiles at her, soft and sincere despite the weight in her eyes. “You absolutely did.”
Zack lifts his arm, examining the riot of color layered over his tattoos. “I feel very safe, sweetie pie.”
Nora grins, satisfied, then curls back into Hazel’s side like she belongs there. I’m suddenly glad my Nora doesn’t quite understand what’s happening.
I watch the scene; Hazel rocking her gently, Zack’s attention split between the table and the child, the way something unspoken passes between them. I feel it settle in my gut.
This isn’t just about information anymore.
“Whoever is holding them,” I say finally, lowering my voice, “has been planning this longer than we thought. Cameron and Leyla weren’t unlucky. They were targeted. And Hazel surviving?” I glance at her. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Hazel meets my gaze, unflinching, her arms tightening around my Nora. “They’re going to regret that.”
Zack nods once. “So what’s next?”
I straighten, resolve locking into place. “Next, we confirm the location. Quietly. Then we get them out.”
Nora yawns, finally slowing, and Hazel instinctively adjusts to keep her comfortable. Zack watches them for a moment, something almost like wonder crossing his face before he looks back at me.
“Good work,” he says simply.
It’s the highest praise he gives. And for the first time since this all started, I know exactly where to aim. I let him down once before, and I know that I won’t ever let anyone down like that again.
Nora is now dead asleep, her little auburn curls blending into Hazel’s hair. Zack catches onto the feeling that this night is over, and he nods.
“I should get her home.” I nod toward Nora. “I’ll be in touch though, and Hazel—Zack? Be safe tomorrow, yeah? I’ll be your eyes and ears in the sky, and whatever you need, but please, be careful.”
Hazel hands Nora back to me, a sad smile sitting on her face.
All this information probably isn’t what she’s wanted to hear, but I feel better having all of it out in the open.
She forces her smile to seem brighter, but I see the sadness in her eyes.
“She’s really lucky she has you, Lincoln.
And needless to say, I think I’m in love with your daughter. ”
I can’t help but pull her into a side hug, as to not jostle Nora, but I pull her close, leaning down to whisper, “Be gentle with Zack’s, yeah? I know you will, but I wouldn’t be his best friend if I didn’t at least say something.”
Her face softens, and a true smile forms on her face. “I promise. He’s always the one looking out for everyone else, I think it’s my turns to take care of him for once.”
We say our goodbyes, and Hazel and Zack head off. While I head home with Nora, there’s this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I shake it off and know that they are more than capable of handling this on their own.