Chapter 15 - A Little Mark
Ortiz photographed the folder before anyone moved it. The pages carried dates from several weeks earlier and notes about camera blind spots, caregiver schedules, and the times Daniel normally closed his office door.
Daniel felt cold reading them. He had thought the danger began the day he watched the monitor. Vanessa had been measuring their routines while he thanked her for bringing calm into the house.
The investigators obtained financial records by lawful process. Payments to Harbor had been routed through accounts connected to Owen and Vanessa. Owen's lawyer arranged another interview. This time Owen brought messages he'd saved on a cloud account that Vanessa couldn't erase.
One read: MARIA HAS TO LOOK LIKE THE PROBLEM. HE WILL NEVER SEND HER AWAY OTHERWISE.
Another, written the night before the iron incident, said: A SMALL MARK. NOTHING SERIOUS. THEN THE SAFETY PAPERWORK.
"I thought she meant something on the crib," Owen insisted. "I didn't know she meant the baby until she said it out loud."
Ortiz asked why he hadn't called police immediately.
"Because the money was already in my account," he said. "Because I knew they'd ask questions about me."
His selfishness had nearly cost a child his safety. Daniel wanted to shout. Instead he stepped outside the station, where Ruth was waiting with Noah.
"Did he admit it?" she asked.
"Enough that I never want him near us."
Noah reached for Daniel's jacket zipper. Daniel let him pull it, back and forth, until the simple motion steadied his hands.
Ortiz came outside with the case file tucked under one arm.
"We're preparing charges based on the evidence," she said. "You should know that we also found a scheduled transfer from Harbor's account. It was set to leave the country next week."
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"Can it be stopped?"
"We're working on it. But the account holder may be trying to disappear."
