Micah pulled the phone away from his ear and glanced at the time – 6:43. He frowned, but obediently stumbled out of bed, anyway. “It’s still dark,” he pointed out, like the other detective had somehow missed this crucial detail, even as he started looking for a clean pair of pants to pull on. “And it’s Sunday. I have the day off.”

“It concerns the missing persons case I assigned you.”

That definitely caused the remaining fog of sleep to dissipate. Micah’s thoughts felt suddenly clear. “Nico?” he asked immediately. “What happened? Did he show up? Did someone find him?”

There was a short pause on the other side of the phone, and then firmly, yet carefully, Jensen said, “They found a body.”

The phone slipped from Micah’s hand.

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE

The shoulder of Micah’s shirt was damp with tears and his sternum stung where Mrs. Sanchez had struck him with her tiny fist when he’d delivered the news to her.

She’d taken Nico’s death about as horribly as he expected any mother would. Micah knew the five stages of grief – had been forced to learn about them during his training as a detective for situations like this. But knowing the stages and watching someone live them out right in front of you were entirely different things.

She’d been in denial until Micah had shown her the pictures. (He couldn’t take her to the body as it was still being processed for evidence.) She’d flown into a fit of rage when she saw the photos – the waxen pallor of her son’s face, the rope burn that encircled his wrists and ankles, the undeniable birth mark on his chest. She’d turned on Micah then, cussing in Spanish, and with nothing else to take her anger out on, she’d punched him with her small, wrinkled fist over and over again.

Manny, the translator, had been concerned, and had fled to get help, but Micah was more than willing to be an outlet for her justified fury. Besides, it wasn’t long until she’d dissolved into tears, clinging to Micah like he was a lifeline, no longer her personal punching bag, as she cried.

Micah just held her. Mr. Sanchez had been in a state of shock since Micah had shown them the pictures, silent and staring into the distance – hardly in a condition to help his wife.

Micah didn’t think acceptance would come for either of them for a long, long time.

Manny eventually returned with Jensen, who’d had to physically pry Mrs. Sanchez off of him. It was only when Micah had promised he would find who’d done this to her son and make them pay that she reluctantly released him.

He watched through a two-way mirror as Manny introduced them to the precinct’s grief counselor.