Bought decorations.
Ordered the remote-control car Elijah wanted.
Helped Renee load coolers into the SUV before sunrise.
For once, he wanted to be Dad instead of Agent Brooks.
Elijah ran toward him holding a paper treasure map.
“Dad!”
Adrian crouched.
“What?”
“I found clue number four.”
“That was fast.”
“Because Cameron cheated.”
A boy across the grass shouted, “I did not!”
Elijah laughed.
Adrian pulled him closer.
“Best birthday?”
“Best birthday ever.”
Adrian smiled.
That was when his phone vibrated.
He almost ignored it.
Then he noticed the secure-message indicator.
His handler, Supervisory Special Agent Monica Reed.
SLOAN’S UNIT JUST GOT DISPATCHED TO YOUR LOCATION. ANONYMOUS NOISE COMPLAINT. POSSIBLE COVER ISSUE. STAY ALERT.
Adrian read it twice.
Then another message appeared.
SOURCE INSIDE DISTRICT SAYS YOUR NAME CAME UP THIS MORNING. ABORT IF FAMILY AT RISK.
The warmth vanished from his face.
Renee noticed immediately.
“Adrian.”
He put the phone away.
“Nothing.”
She stepped closer.
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“That thing where you say nothing while your entire body says something.”
Adrian looked toward the park entrance.
No police yet.
Children still running.
Music playing.
Loretta Greene laughing beside the food table.
He wanted desperately to believe the dispatch was coincidence.
Eight months of experience told him it was not.
Renee lowered her voice.
“Is it them?”
Adrian looked at her.
Then he nodded once.
She exhaled.
“Elijah.”
“I know.”
“Not today.”
“I know.”
Her eyes locked onto his.
“Whatever happens, remember he’s watching.”
Adrian looked toward his son.
Elijah was showing friends the Spider-Man candles.
“I know.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Three patrol cars entered the park less than two minutes later.
Margaret Sloan stepped from the first cruiser before it had fully settled into park.
Two officers followed her.
Daniel Price and Eric Malone.
Both men appeared repeatedly in Adrian’s case files.
Price was suspected of participating in illegal property seizures.
Malone appeared in recordings discussing false probable-cause narratives.
Adrian knew exactly who had arrived.
They did not know exactly who he was.
At least, he hoped they did not.
Sloan entered the pavilion like she expected resistance.
“Anonymous complaint,” she announced. “Excessive noise, unauthorized gathering, possible public-health violations.”
Renee immediately reached inside a folder near the gift table.
“We have the pavilion reservation.”
Sloan ignored her.
Her attention moved toward the food.
Fried chicken.
Macaroni and cheese.
Cornbread.
Potato salad.
Birthday cupcakes.
“Look at this,” she said.
Officer Price smirked.
“Lot of food.”
Sloan shook her head.
“And hardworking people wonder where their money goes.”
Several adults exchanged confused looks.
Adrian felt his stomach tighten.
It was exactly the kind of language he had heard on recordings.
Only now his son could hear it too.
Loretta stood.
“This food was bought by families.”
Sloan turned.
“You keeping receipts, Grandma?”
Loretta’s expression hardened.