And Kai was small and quiet and, to Dario, invisible — a boy who might plausibly be looking for a phone charger.

So I let my son go, and I sat and admired the pot roast and asked Blanca about her roses while every part of me strained toward the hallway.

When he came back whole, with those two photographs, I felt a relief so total it frightened me, because underneath it was the understanding of what I had just been willing to risk, and why.

I did not let any of it reach my face.