Delivery Driver Ryan Saw a Terrified Boy Hiding Behind Packages — Then an Older Woman Looked at the Child and Screamed His Name
Chapter 5 — Apartment 7D
The apartment looked almost empty.
No family photographs.
No personal decorations.
No food except bottled water and packaged snacks.
The bedroom contained only a mattress.
The second bedroom had something different.
Locks.
One on the outside.
Inside were children’s books.
A blanket.
A small plastic cup.
And scratches near the lower part of the door.
Margaret had to leave the room.
Ryan remained in the hallway.
Detective Ruiz searched Derek’s desk.
Inside a drawer, she found rental agreements.
All under different names.
Different buildings.
Different cities.
Then an officer called from the kitchen.
“Detective.”
Behind a removable cabinet panel was another phone.
Unlike the prepaid phones in the duffel bag, this one was unlocked.
The recent messages changed the investigation completely.
Keep him there until Friday.
No police.
Grandmother still believes the school pickup theory.
Then one final message.
Sent thirty minutes before Ryan arrived.
He’s getting scared. Move him tonight.
Detective Ruiz stared at the screen.
Derek wasn’t working alone.
Someone else had planned everything.
And that person knew exactly what Margaret believed.
