“We didn’t realize how close he was to leaving until tonight,” she said. “When we intercepted his mother’s car with Noah inside, we had to act immediately.”
My voice barely worked. “His parents?”
“Not his parents. Associates. They raised him after his real father went to prison.”
That sentence hollowed out what little remained of me.
The family I had trusted my son with had never been family. Noah was brought back to me at 6:40 a.m., sleepy and confused, wearing dinosaur pajamas and clutching the stuffed fox Mara had bought him at a gas station. I held him so tightly he complained.
“Mommy, too squishy.”
I laughed and cried at the same time.
The case lasted over a year. Owen pleaded guilty to conspiracy, identity fraud, money laundering, and custodial interference. The man in the raincoat, Victor Hale, received a longer sentence for coordinating the escape plan.
