I saw a homeless man wearing my missing son’s jacket. I followed him to an abandoned house, and what I found inside almost made me faint.

“Daniel isn’t like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sometimes teenagers go away for a couple of days.”

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“Daniel is kind and sensitive. He’s the kind of person who apologizes when someone runs into him.”

The officer gave me a sympathetic smile. “We’ll file a report, ma’am.”

But I realized that he thought I was just another panicked mother who didn’t know her own child.

I never imagined how right he was.

***

The next morning, I went to Daniel’s school.

The director was kind. She let me see the security camera footage from the main entrance.

She thought I was just another panicked mother who didn’t know her own child.

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I sat in a small office and watched the video from the previous afternoon.

Groups of teenagers left the building in groups, laughing, pushing each other, looking at their phones.

Then I saw Daniel walking next to a girl.

For a moment, I didn’t recognize her. Then she looked over her shoulder and I could see her face more clearly.

“Maya,” I whispered.

I saw Daniel walking next to a girl.

Maya
had visited Daniel several times. A quiet girl. Polite, in a way that seemed thoughtful.