Chapter 6 - The City of Shadows
Rain lashed against the windshield of Julian’s Audi as he sped through the neon-lit streets of Seattle, leaving behind the glittering ballroom and his ruined wedding reception.
He had ripped off his silk bow tie and unbuttoned his collar, feeling as though he were suffocating. On the passenger seat lay his tablet, open to a high-resolution frame grab from the church security footage showing the woman’s face as the guards dragged her away.
Julian knew he couldn't go to the police. If his father held as much sway over the local authorities as he suspected, any official inquiry would alert Arthur immediately.
Instead, Julian pulled up outside a dimly lit coffee shop in the Industrial District and dialed a number he hadn't called in years: Leo Miller. Leo was a former private investigator who now ran a specialized skip-tracing network, a man Julian had once hired to conduct background checks for his real estate acquisitions.
Twenty minutes later, Leo slid into the booth across from Julian, shaking water from his dark jacket. He took one look at Julian’s rumpled tuxedo and raised an eyebrow.
"You look like a man who just fled his own altar, Vance," Leo said dryly, setting a steaming mug on the laminate table.
Julian pushed the tablet across the wood. "I need to find her, Leo. Tonight."
Leo studied the image of the ragged woman in the brown coat. He zoomed in on her weathered features, her frayed collar, and the faded canvas bag slung over her shoulder.
"She’s roughing it, but she isn't a long-term street dweller," Leo noted, his eyes narrowing. "Notice her shoes—worn leather boots, clean laces. Her jacket is dirty at the cuffs, which means she’s been sleeping in overcrowded shelters or transitional housing, not under an overpass."
Leo pulled out his phone and made two quick calls, speaking in low, rapid jargon. After five minutes, he hung up and looked at Julian.
"Her name is Evelyn. Evelyn Mercer," Leo said softly. "She stays at St. Jude’s Women’s Refuge down on 4th Avenue three nights a week. But Julian... there’s something else. Her file in the state social registry has a red flag on it."
"What kind of flag?"
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"A non-disclosure block," Leo answered, his voice dropping into a tense whisper. "Someone high up in the county courthouse paid to have her original identity records sealed thirty years ago. She doesn't exist on paper prior to 1996."
Julian’s heart slammed against his ribs. "My father."
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