A realization flashed across Ben’s mind.
Zev Lieberman.
Zev wasn’t hiding. Zev wasn’t a former missing person trying to avoid prying eyes. If Zev was real, Ben could find him, ask him about Alistair. And if he didn’t exist, then maybe none of this was real. It was just someone tormenting him again, haunting him. But that he could manage, that the police could manage. Zev was the key that could lock the door again.
Ben knew Zev was working on his PhD at Columbia from the chapter in Ozone Park. He knew he was planning on becoming a comparative literature professor. The English department at Columbia was the place to start. The plan lit a fire in Ben. He felt rebooted. He showered, dressed for work, made his apologies for leaving Stevie in the lurch, and on his lunch break he went to the c
