Chapter 65 The picture
Jacob
I walked into Elsie’s room with a heaviness sitting right in the center of my chest, the kind that clings to you no matter how many times you try to shake it off.
I stood there for a while, just scanning the space and trying to make sense of everything. Maybe I was hoping something would jump out at me, something obvious, something that told me where she went or what happened.
We couldn’t involve the police. Not now. Not yet. A missing-person report with our family name attached would spread like wildfire, and people would start asking questions we couldn’t afford to answer. The only thing worse than losing her would be watching the entire family get dragged through that kind of attention. Caleb said the same thing, and I understood it. But understanding didn’t make me feel any better.
I moved further into the room, checking her drawer, her tiny wardrobe, the small stack of books she kept beside the bed. I wasn’t even sure what I was searching for—just something, anything, that connected to her disappearance. My hands weren’t as steady as I wanted them to be, and each thing I touched made me painfully aware of how wrong it felt to be going through her things like this. But I had no choice. She was gone, and nobody knew where to begin.
When I opened the drawer near her bed, I froze for a moment because something bright caught my eye. It was a photo—slightly worn at the edges, clearly handled many times. I picked it up and stared at it. Two girls. One of them was definitely Elsie. The other… older, taller, with the same eyes but a different kind of expression. A kind of quiet authority. The resemblance was too strong to ignore.
I sat down on her bed, still studying the picture. Who was this woman? A friend? A relative? Someone she trusted? And if Elsie trusted her enough to keep her picture inside her bedroom, then maybe—just maybe—Elsie had gone to her.
It wasn’t a wild idea. In fact, it was the only thing that made sense to me. She had been quiet, withdrawn, acting unlike herself the past few days. Maybe something happened that made her want to leave. Maybe she got overwhelmed. Maybe she missed home. Maybe she was tired of the constant chaos in this house.
Maybe she didn’t want to be found.
That thought sat in my stomach like a stone, heavier with every second. I stood up, took one more slow look around her room, hoping something else would reveal itself, but nothing did. So I slipped the picture into my pocket, stepped out of her room, and made my way out of the mansion.
The drive to Caleb’s office felt longer than it actually was. The city moved around me, bright lights, impatient horns, cars zipping past, but none of it registered. All I could think about was that picture in my pocket and how it might be the single thread that leads us to her.
I kept replaying the hours before she disappeared, every little detail, every strange moment, every uneasy silence. But nothing explained why she would just leave without a word. And nothing explained why someone would take her, unless it was someone close.
That possibility twisted something sharp inside me.
When I reached Caleb’s office building, I parked and went straight up. I didn’t bother waiting for the receptionist to announce me. I just walked in. Caleb looked up from his desk with that same tense expression he’d had since yesterday. Exhausted. Angry. Worried. But still trying to pretend he had everything under control.
I walked straight to him and placed the picture on his desk.
He glanced at it, then looked back at me. “What’s this?”
“I found it in her room,” I said, keeping my voice steady even though my chest felt tight. “Do you think this could be someone she knows? Someone she might have gone to?”
Caleb picked up the photo, studying it longer than I expected. “Who is she?”
“That’s what I want to figure out. It doesn’t make sense, Caleb. Elsie wouldn’t just vanish into thin air. If she left on her own, she would’ve gone to someone she trusts. And if she didn’t…” I took a slow breath. “Then maybe this person knows something. Maybe she contacted her.”
Caleb leaned back, the picture still in his hand. “Or maybe she didn’t want to be found.”
The words hit me harder than they should have. “Why would she do that?” I asked quietly. “You saw her. She wasn’t acting like someone who wanted to disappear.”
“How do you know?” Caleb shot back, still calm but with an edge to it. “We don’t know anything about her. Not her past. Not her family. Not her intentions. For all we know, she packed her things and left because she got tired of all of us.”
“That’s not true,” I said immediately. “She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t leave like this. If she left, she would’ve said something. And all her things are still in her room.”
Caleb didn’t answer that. Instead, he stood up and slipped the picture into a drawer.
“Leave it,” I said sharply. “Don’t hide it. If this girl is family, we should find her. Maybe Elsie is with her right now. Maybe she’s safe.”
“Jacob,” he said, picking up his jacket, “go home. I’ll handle this.”
I stared at him, stunned. “What do you mean you’ll handle it? You think I’m just going to sit at home while she’s missing?”
“I said go home,” he repeated, but harder this time. “I will take it from here.”
“I’m not leaving,” I shot back. “I want to be involved every step of the way.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened. “I’ve been handling things you don’t even know about. Things I didn’t think I had to explain. So when I tell you to let me handle this, trust me.”
“Why should I trust you?” I asked, trying not to raise my voice. “You’re not telling me anything. You’re not explaining anything. All I asked is that we do this together.”
“You don’t have a choice in this case.” His voice dropped lower, colder. “Go home, Jacob.”
I swallowed hard, feeling anger and frustration rise in equal measure. “You’re hiding something,” I whispered. “I don’t know what, but you are. And I’m not stupid, Caleb. I can see it all over your face.”
He didn’t answer. He just exhaled, walked past me, and opened the door—clearly ending the conversation.
I walked out slowly, feeling more confused than when I arrived. The picture. Caleb’s reaction. His sudden urgency to take control. Everything felt wrong, twisted, out of place.
And as I stepped back into the city noise, I couldn’t shake the one thought echoing through my mind:
Whatever Caleb was hiding… it had everything to do with Elsie.