CHAPTER 4 — THE MISSING HOURS
The voice on the phone haunted Elias all night.
It wasn't what the woman had said.
He hadn't heard enough words to make sense of them.
It was how she had spoken.
Calm.
Measured.
Confident.
The kind of voice that belonged to someone who believed they had complete control.
And somehow...
She did.
Elias barely slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Josephine sitting on his bed, whispering through tears.
"He thinks I'm fine."
The sentence repeated itself like a hammer inside his skull.
How long had she believed she had to fool him?
How many chances had he missed because he was too tired after work to notice?
Before dawn, he sat alone at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee that had long gone cold.
Across from him was a framed family photograph taken five years earlier.
Josephine was ten then.
Her front teeth were missing.
She wore a crooked ponytail and laughed so hard that her eyes almost disappeared.
Rebecca stood beside her with one arm around Elias.
Back then, nothing in the picture hinted that the family would one day become strangers living under the same roof.
Rebecca came downstairs at six-thirty.
She looked surprised to see him awake.
"You didn't leave for work?"
"I took a few days off."
Her smile disappeared for the briefest moment before returning.
"That's... nice."
Too nice.
Too careful.
She poured herself coffee without meeting his eyes.
"I've been thinking," Elias said casually.
"Maybe I'll pick Josephine up after school today."
Rebecca almost dropped her mug.
"Oh."
A beat too long.
"I don't think that's necessary."
"Why not?"
"She usually studies with friends."
Elias nodded slowly.
"Which friends?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"You know... classmates."
She couldn't name one.
At seven-fifteen Josephine came downstairs wearing her school uniform.
She looked exhausted.
Dark circles rested beneath her eyes.
When she saw Elias still home, uncertainty crossed her face.
"Dad?"
"I thought I'd drive you today."
For a second she looked terrified.
"No!"
The word came out far louder than she intended.
Rebecca immediately stepped in.
"She's just embarrassed."
Josephine forced an awkward laugh.
"Dad, everyone takes the bus."
Elias smiled gently.
"Humor your old man."
Josephine looked toward her mother.
Rebecca gave the smallest shake of her head.
So small that most people would never have noticed it.
But Elias did.
Josephine lowered her eyes.
"...Okay."
The drive to school was almost silent.
Elias kept the conversation light.
"Big math test today?"
"I think so."
"What chapter?"
She hesitated.
"I don't remember."
She wasn't lying well anymore.
She was exhausted.
Every answer sounded like something borrowed.
When they reached the school entrance, Josephine opened the car door.
Before getting out, she whispered,
"I'm sorry."
Then she walked away.
Sorry?
For what?
Elias waited.
Instead of leaving, he parked across the street where he could still see the main entrance.
Students flowed through the gates.
Teachers greeted them.
Josephine entered with everyone else.
At least...
It looked that way.
Exactly nine minutes later, another gate opened near the gymnasium.
Josephine came out.
Alone.
She pulled off her school sweater and stuffed it into her backpack.
Then she walked quickly toward the rear parking lot.
Elias' heart started pounding.
A black SUV waited there.
The rear passenger door opened before she even reached it.
She climbed inside.
The vehicle drove away.
Without thinking, Elias started his truck.
He stayed three cars behind.
The SUV never exceeded the speed limit.
Whoever was driving wasn't worried about being followed.
They crossed downtown, passed the public library, and continued toward the older industrial district on the edge of town.
Not a place teenagers usually visited.
Finally the SUV stopped outside a narrow brick building with faded blue shutters.
There was no business sign.
Only a small brass plaque beside the door.
Ashwood Educational Consulting
Educational?
Josephine stepped out carrying her backpack.
She looked around nervously before entering.
The SUV left immediately.
Elias parked across the street.
The building looked ordinary.
Too ordinary.
Curtains covered every window.
No students entered.
No parents waited outside.
No receptionist could be seen.
Yet Josephine had disappeared inside.
He checked the time.
8:04 a.m.
School had started four minutes earlier.
He waited.
Thirty minutes.
An hour.
Two hours.
No one came out.
Finally, just before eleven, another teenage girl entered.
Then a boy.
Both wore different school uniforms.
Neither looked happy.
All of them looked...
Defeated.
Elias pulled out his phone and searched for Ashwood Educational Consulting.
Almost nothing appeared.
A basic website.
No staff photos.
No reviews.
Only vague promises.
"Helping young people achieve their full academic potential."
No address history.
No names.
Nothing.
It was as if the place existed only on paper.
Just after noon, his phone rang.
Mrs. Gable.
"Elias?"
"Yes?"
"I don't want to alarm you..."
His stomach tightened.
"What happened?"
"I saw your wife leave the house this morning."
"So?"
"She wasn't alone."
Elias frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"There was a woman with her."
"What woman?"
"I've never seen her before."
Mrs. Gable paused.
"But I recognized her voice."
His pulse quickened.
"...Voice?"
"The windows were open."
Another pause.
"I heard her laughing."
Silence.
Then Mrs. Gable said the sentence that made Elias grip the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
"Elias..."
"I think she's the woman I've heard talking to Josephine."
His heart slammed against his ribs.
The voice.
The same calm voice.
The second voice inside his house.
And now...
Rebecca had been seen with her.
At exactly three-fifteen, the front door of Ashwood Educational Consulting opened.
Josephine stepped outside.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't smiling.
She looked...
Empty.
Like every emotion had been carefully removed before she was allowed to leave.
Elias ducked lower in his seat.
The same black SUV returned.
Before Josephine climbed in, another woman appeared in the doorway.
Tall.
Dark hair pulled into a tight bun.
Gray business suit.
She leaned down and spoke quietly to Josephine.
Josephine nodded without looking up.
Then the woman gently lifted Josephine's chin with two fingers.
The gesture looked almost caring.
But from where Elias sat...
It felt like ownership.
Josephine flinched.
Just barely.
The woman smiled.
A slow, practiced smile.
Then the SUV drove away.
Elias waited until the vehicle disappeared before crossing the street.
The building's door was locked.
He peered through the narrow glass panel.
Nothing.
Only a hallway leading deeper inside.
As he turned to leave, something caught his eye near the trash bin beside the entrance.
A folded piece of paper.
Half-hidden beneath dead leaves.
He picked it up.
It looked like part of a printed worksheet.
Across the top, someone had written in blue ink:
SESSION 17
Below it were several typed questions.
Have you told your father the truth?
□ Yes
□ No
Do you still feel emotionally dependent on him?
□ Yes
□ No
Near the bottom, in handwriting he recognized instantly as Josephine's, were four words that stole the air from his lungs.
I miss my dad.
Below that...
Someone else had written in red ink.
Attachment slows progress.
Elias stared at those four red words until they blurred.
He no longer believed this was tutoring.
Or counseling.
Or education.
Someone was deliberately separating his daughter from him.
Teaching her to hide.
Teaching her to lie.
Teaching her that loving her father was a weakness to overcome.
As he folded the paper into his jacket pocket, he made a silent promise.
Whoever was inside that building...
Whoever had convinced Josephine that fear was normal...
Whoever had stolen months of her life while he worked to provide for her...
May you like
They had just made one fatal mistake.
They had finally been seen.
