Chapter 12 - The Man Who Wore Cal's Shirt
Cal kept spare gray work polos for new hires. Daniel remembered giving one to a Bellweather delivery driver after he spilled paint on himself two months earlier. The driver had signed the shop's log as T. BECK.
Silas's younger cousin, Tucker, worked venue security.
Nina called the police with the name. Daniel wanted to drive straight to Bellweather, but Nina stopped him. "If you confront him, he'll know exactly what evidence to destroy. Let the investigators ask for the footage."
At the same time, Lucía's teacher, Ms. Alden, called about a hard morning at school. Lucía had refused to participate in a pretend wedding during playtime and cried when another child said the bride always gets her way.
Daniel left the shop early. He found his daughter on a playground bench kicking her shoes against the gravel.
"We don't have to talk about weddings," he said, sitting beside her.
"I made the music stop," Lucía whispered.
"You did."
"And everyone was mad."
"Some people were. But you weren't wrong to speak. I should have made you feel safe enough to tell me before we got there. That's my part to fix."
She leaned against him. The afternoon bell rang, and children poured out the doors around them.
Later, Nina sent a message: mall security had found the person who photographed Rosa and Lucía. The footage showed Tucker holding a phone near a parked delivery van. A detective was arranging an interview.
Daniel read it twice before noticing another message beneath it, this time from Harper.
I need to tell you what I did. Not by phone. I'll meet you at Nina's office if she comes too.
May you like
Then a second message arrived.
I can't promise Silas will let me get there.
