CHARLES FOX.
I hadn’t even finished reading the report Seth had handed me when my phone rang. I glanced at the screen. It was my mother. Normally, I’d ignore her calls, especially now, with everything going on, but something in me made me answer.
“What is it, Mother?” I asked, keeping my voice steady, though my patience was thin.
“I need to see you,” she said, her tone cool and detached, like always.
“I’m in the middle of something,” I replied, trying to wrap up the conversation quickly. I couldn’t deal with her now. Not when Ruby was missing and everything was spiraling out of control. “It’ll have to wait.”
There was a long pause on the other end. Then my phone buzzed. A message.
I pulled the phone away from my ear and opened the message. My blood ran cold.
It was a photo of Ruby,
