Harrison’s face fell. “She doesn’t know?”
“She doesn’t know her son is in my grave.”
The words silenced the table.
Graham removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Then this isn’t only about us.”
“No,” Julian said. “Deborah stole a son from you and a truth from her.”
Harrison looked at the folder of evidence. Until that moment, his anger had been personal. Now it widened into something heavier. Another parent had been left waiting because Deborah found a dead boy useful.
“We find her,” Harrison said. “And we make it right.”
The plan moved faster than any of them expected because Deborah made her first mistake the next afternoon.
Arthur called Julian in a panic.
“A woman came by the shop,” he said. “Fancy coat, expensive car, smile like a knife. Said she was your aunt.”
Julian’s blood went cold. “Deborah.”
“She asked where you went. I told her you left without saying. She didn’t believe me.”
“Did she threaten you?”
“She tried charm first. Then she said people who hide troubled young men can get themselves into legal trouble.”
Julian closed his eyes. “Arthur, listen to me. Don’t be alone tonight.”
“Son, I’ve handled worse than a woman with pearls.”
