Dawson was furious.
Yet whenever the conversation returned to his son, the anger gave way to fear.
"What happens to Elliot now?" he asked.
Priya leaned forward.
"The priority is his welfare and establishing the circumstances of the false death report. You'll need legal representation for the parentage and custody issues, and investigators need to determine whether the records were falsified."
He swallowed.
"Can they take him away again?"
Priya's expression softened.
"That's exactly why we need to handle this carefully."
I looked at Dawson.
He nodded.
For the first time since seeing the photograph, he seemed to understand that finding Elliot was only the beginning.
He couldn't simply walk into a condominium, pick up a frightened four-year-old, and announce he was his father.
Elliot had been raised with another man's name.
Another man's voice.
Another man's bedtime stories.
The truth might free him.
But it could also frighten him.
