While I was on vacation with my cousins, my phone lit up with one message: “Get on a plane home. Don’t tell your parents you’re coming.” When I landed, an attorney and two investigators

in the department. Retired now, but still connected. She came to me first because I handled a civil case involving the Pierce family years ago.”

“The Pierce family?” I asked.

Margaret’s face softened. “Your maternal grandfather is alive. Thomas Whitaker. He has spent twenty-one years believing his granddaughter was dead or trafficked or lost forever.continue reading …