Weeks stretched into a month. Sam’s updates were sporadic but promising. They were tracing Daniel’s movements through several states, piecing together a pattern that suggested he was slowly making his way down the East Coast.

Then came the breakthrough. A report came in from a small town in Virginia—an ATM withdrawal followed by a motel check-in under a pseudonym that Sam had flagged from one of Daniel’s previous aliases. The timing and location matched perfectly with their leads.