‘Not as much as when he was first born.’ Elizabeth stroked the photo in her hand as if the glossy paper was truly Hayden’s skin. ‘Brandon very much resembles his father, and I think it’s just too much for Hayden’s mother. His father was killed in an industrial accident six years ago, and his brother moved to Montana. But I still see his sister Rosalyn. In fact, I told her I was hiring Gabriel to look into Hayden’s disappearance, and while she wasn’t thrilled at bringing all that pain back to the surface, especially because of her mother, she also understood why I was doing it.

‘I know Mr. Kensington set up a meeting with Ros, but I never got a chance to ask how it went. This past Wednesday, he left me a message saying it was urgent he speak to me right away, that he had some promising new information and wanted to get together so he could show me some pictures. His voice was, I don’t know, excited but frantic, maybe? Because I didn’t want the boys to overhear our conversation, I sent him a text telling him I’d taken Brandon and Nate down to Carlsbad Caverns to see the bats for fall break, and I’d call when we returned so we could set up a time to get together, but by the time we got back, I was already rushing to make another appointment I had.’ A strange expression flitted across Elizabeth’s face, there and gone so quickly that Alyssa wondered if she’d only imagined seeing it. ‘By the time I finished up with that, it was too late to call. And then the murders were all over the news this morning…’ Her voice trailed off.

Her head reeling with this new information, Alyssa played out the scene in her mind. Gabriel speaks with Hayden’s sister, who from Elizabeth’s account, appeared none too happy that the case was being looked into, then he comes across some pictures, and then ends up murdered. It was eerily similar to what Grace had told her this morning, and that was more of a coincidence than she was comfortable with. ‘Do you still have the message Gabriel left?’ She didn’t bother to mask the urgency in her voice when she asked.

Elizabeth pressed her finger onto the biometric scanner of her phone and swiped across the screen until she found her voicemail and hit play. Gabriel Kensington’s booming voice burst into the room from beyond the grave.

‘Elizabeth, this is Gabriel Kensington. Call me back as soon as you receive this message. I’ve uncovered some – disturbing – information, and I’d like you to take a look at some photographs that have come into my possession. Hayden could—Just call me.’