“Did he say where he was?”
“No.”
“Background sounds?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think.”
Diane closed her eyes.
“Trains.”
Everyone stopped.
“What kind?”
“I heard a horn.”
“Anything else?”
“Bells.”
“Church bells?”
“Maybe.”
Then she remembered something else.
Evan had asked about an old family place.
A cabin once owned by Diane’s brother near Lake Marston.
The cabin had been sold years earlier.
But Diane’s brother still had friends in that area.
Police checked.
Nothing.
Then came bank activity.
A gas purchase connected to one card Evan apparently thought I did not know existed.
North.
Another purchase three states away.
Investigators contacted agencies along the route.
The case shifted overnight from missing child to suspected parental abduction.
That distinction changed the search.
Noah’s photo went out again.
This time with Evan’s.
Vehicle details.
Possible alternate clothing.
Possible destinations.
I barely slept.
But for the first time in twenty-three days, hope was more powerful than terror.
