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CHAPTER 29

Raleigh, North Carolina Sunday, July 28, 2024

RYDER HILLIER DROVE THE RENTAL CAR OUT OF THE RALEIGH International Airport. She’d done her research, tapped her sources, and had the address to Sloan Hastings’s apartment on her GPS. A twenty-minute drive led her to the tree-lined street and into the parking lot of the three-story complex. She took a minute to get herself settled by attaching the microphone to her collar and setting up the video display on her smartphone before she exited the vehicle and climbed the stairs to Sloan Hastings’s apartment.

After three rounds of knocking, Ryder cupped her hands and peered through the window next to the door. The blinds were open, and she could see into the small apartment. The lights were off with no activity inside. She headed back to her car to wait. As the hours passed without a baby Charlotte sighting, Ryder knew she needed to move to Plan B.