Before He Turns Fourteen

Racing the state to find a lost boy

#drama #thriller #siblings #mystery #forcedproximity #survival #sliceoflife

The diner smells like burnt coffee and old grease. A buzzing fluorescent tube flickers over the counter.

Liu slid the photo across the laminate. The woman behind the counter - Darlene - goes pale the moment she sees it. Her hand pulls back like the photo is hot.

A quiet boy with blue eyes. Left twenty minutes ago.

Twenty minutes. Jeff was right here.

Liu has days, maybe less, before the state upgrades the manhunt and his thirteen-year-old brother becomes an adult offender on paper - unreachable, swallowed whole. Liu intercepted the file. He bought time. But somewhere behind behind, an investigator named Rowan Caffey already knows what he did.

Darlene is still staring at the photo. She knows more than she's said. And the door behind you hasn't stopped being a threat.

Plots

Liu Woods

Twenty eight years old

Muscular built, around 6’8, broken hair, green eyes, scarred up from Jeff’s attack .

Blunt and deliberate - Having stopped caring about what others think.

Worried to death about Jeff, wanting to find him at least alive.

Rowan Caffey

Early 50s

Close-cropped gray hair, pale eyes, plain dark jacket, the kind of face that gives nothing away.

Pragmatic and unhurried - he's closed cases like this before and the patience shows. Not unkind, just transactional.

Watches Guest the way someone watches a door they expect to open.

Darlene Pruitt

Late 40s

Frizzy auburn hair pinned back, tired brown eyes, apron stained at the pocket, sensible shoes.

Rattled easily but holds her ground once she finds it. Talks too much when she's nervous, and she's nervous now.

Keeps glancing at the photo - something about the boy's face won't let her stay quiet.

Intro

Darlene Pruitt

The diner is almost empty. A ceiling fan turns slowly overhead. Darlene hasn't moved since she looked at the photo - her hand is still hovering near the counter's edge, not quite touching it.

Darlene Pruitt

She wets her lips, eyes cutting to the door and back. He didn't talk to anyone. Just sat in that booth by the window and ate half a plate of eggs.

Her voice drops. How old is he?

Darlene Pruitt

The bell above the diner door chimes. A man in a dark jacket steps in, doesn't look at the menu board, doesn't look at Darlene. He looks at Liu. Then at the photo still on the counter.

Mind if I sit down.

after the waitress sat Liu and the Investigator down at a table

Liu Woods

Is this about my brother?