3
Paix rose early, making a thin oat porridge with bits of dried fruit for them both while Reina slept. He arrived at the station before shift change, sitting on a bench outside the building.
The day was overcast, the ground dusted with snow. A bad sign ‒ it would obscure any evidence they'd missed yesterday.
Almost twenty-four hours since the boy's disappearance. Had the night shift found him? Paix had to hope the child still lived.
Chilled, he drew his overcoat around him and went inside. Men gathered in the conference room for the pre-shift briefing; Paix followed them in.
Commander Wolff Green, an ancient man with wisps of white decorating his spotted head, stood in the front of the room flipping through a sheaf of papers. He peered at the papers with rheumy eyes through thick rou
