Chapter 6 - The Man Who Had Been Watching
Investigators had finally traced the contractor who helped prepare the hidden room, although they learned that he had disappeared from public life after becoming involved in a confrontation connected to the construction.
Further evidence suggested that Gregory had been responsible for preventing him from revealing the project, and investigators now believed Meredith’s former husband had played a much larger role in Noah’s disappearance than anyone initially understood.
They also discovered that Gregory had been communicating secretly with Meredith through intermediaries.
“We have reason to believe he’s been following the proceedings,” Detective Bennett told me. “We need you to be especially careful until we locate him.”
I asked whether he might know where we lived.
She hesitated.
“We’re working on that possibility.”
Two evenings later, while Caroline and the children were visiting Noah’s therapist, I noticed an unfamiliar gray vehicle parked near the end of our street.
It remained there long enough for me to become uneasy, and when I looked outside again, it had moved closer to our driveway.
Rather than approach it, I called the police and remained inside.
Shortly afterward, a man stepped from the vehicle and walked toward our back porch.
Even through the window, I recognized Gregory.
He looked older than I remembered, with a tired face and shoulders that seemed permanently hunched.
When he noticed me standing inside, he stopped.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then I opened the window just enough to speak.
“The police are coming, Gregory. Stay where you are.”
He lowered his head.
“I never thought it would go this far,” he said.
“You helped take my little boy away from us.”
He began crying, but I felt no need to comfort him.
“I thought Meredith could give him a better life,” he murmured. “She convinced me it was what he needed.”
I looked at the empty swing hanging beneath the maple tree.
“He needed his family.”
Officers arrived minutes later and took Gregory into custody without a confrontation.
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When Caroline returned with the children, I told her what had happened after Noah and Lily were safely upstairs.
We sat at the kitchen table for a long time, holding hands, grateful that the man who had helped keep our son away from us could no longer quietly watch our home.
