HIS NEIGHBOR WOULDN’T STOP REPORTING THE SOUND OF A GIRL CRYING INSIDE HIS HOUSE—THEN HE HID BENEATH HIS DAUGHTER’S BED AND HEARD HER PLEAD FOR SOMEONE TO SPARE HER

He sat in the motel chair with Lucia’s phone, screenshotting everything. He backed up messages to cloud storage. He emailed copies to himself. He wrote down every name he saw: Madison Clark, Tyler Baines, Olivia Reed, anonymous accounts, Veronica, Madison’s mother, school staff who had dismissed Lucia’s complaints. He called Mrs. Estelle, the neighbor, and apologized so deeply she began crying.

“I should have listened,” he said.

Mrs. Estelle’s voice trembled. “Just save that girl, Tomás.”

“I will.”