We emerged into Unit 215 on our hands and knees.<\/p>\n
The space smelled of paint thinner and damp wood.<\/p>\n
Rebecca pulled the panel shut behind us.<\/p>\n
Gunshots still cracked from the neighboring corridor, muffled now by two layers of metal.<\/p>\n
\u201cMove.\u201d<\/p>\n
She grabbed my sleeve.<\/p>\n
A narrow maintenance door stood behind stacked construction panels.<\/p>\n
Rebecca opened it with a key from her pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was always a later with my family.<\/p>\n
Later had swallowed seventeen years.<\/p>\n
I followed her anyway.<\/p>\n
The service corridor was barely wide enough for two people.<\/p>\n
Concrete walls.<\/p>\n
Pipes overhead.<\/p>\n
Emergency lights spaced every twenty feet.<\/p>\n
We moved quickly.<\/p>\n
Behind us, someone shouted my name.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
Rebecca caught my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll find us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t know this route.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows the facility layout.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou trust him?\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a complicated question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen answer the simple one. Do you think he\u2019ll protect Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen keep moving.\u201d<\/p>\n
We reached the rear exit.<\/p>\n
A push bar opened onto a strip of wet gravel between the storage buildings and a chain-link fence.<\/p>\n
Rain had started again.<\/p>\n
Rebecca ran toward a section of fence concealed by overgrown shrubs.<\/p>\n
She pulled up the bottom edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve done this before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lived here for six weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the storage facility?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here. Nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter I disappeared from Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fourteen years ago.<\/p>\n
Every answer she gave revealed another hidden year.<\/p>\n
I slid beneath the fence.<\/p>\n
Rebecca followed.<\/p>\n
An old blue sedan waited on a service road.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou drove this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She opened the passenger door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStolen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cBorrowed without permission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re being shot at, Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
I climbed in.<\/p>\n
Rebecca started the engine with a key already in the ignition.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou planned an escape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI planned several.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know I would come to the unit?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why were you there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her hands tightened on the wheel.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel\u2019s trip to Denver was fake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been watching him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cWonderful. Everyone watches everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca pulled onto the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came back three weeks ago after I saw the new photograph of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one Daniel got?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI intercepted the same image in an email account I still monitor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hacked him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor seventeen years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI updated them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at my sister.<\/p>\n
The woman beside me was not the Rebecca I remembered.<\/p>\n
That girl had borrowed my clothes without asking and cried during animal shelter commercials.<\/p>\n
This woman stole cars, monitored private email and moved through hidden corridors with practiced calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat have you been doing all these years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrying to stay ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the red box on my lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cShow me the false bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot while I\u2019m driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
I worked my fingers along the inside edge.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeft corner.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pressed.<\/p>\n
A thin metal panel shifted upward.<\/p>\n
Beneath it was a folded piece of paper.<\/p>\n
One address.<\/p>\n
A name.<\/p>\n
DR. SAMUEL HOLT.<\/p>\n
I knew the name.<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was Dad\u2019s doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe signed the death certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad had suffered a stroke six years earlier.<\/p>\n
He spent three days in the hospital.<\/p>\n
Then he died before sunrise.<\/p>\n
At least that was what I had been told.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think Dad faked his death too?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her answer came too fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why are we going there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause six months before Dad died, he met Holt outside the hospital several times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou followed Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know you were alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found out.\u201d<\/p>\n
I went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven years after my supposed death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Dad spent seven years believing you were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then learned you weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found me.\u201d<\/p>\n
My eyes burned.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat phrase doesn\u2019t help.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
We drove for nearly forty minutes.<\/p>\n
Rain smeared the windshield.<\/p>\n
Neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
My phone had no service for most of the drive, then suddenly lit with missed calls.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
Mom.<\/p>\n
An unknown number.<\/p>\n
Another from Laura.<\/p>\n
Laura.<\/p>\n
My ordinary life existed somewhere beyond all this.<\/p>\n
I almost called her.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
Anyone connected to me might already be watched.<\/p>\n
Rebecca glanced at the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cTurn it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can track it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo can Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why you need to turn it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think Daniel is part of this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Daniel loves you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t my question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked toward the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe worked for Mercer Security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas.<\/p>\n
My uncle.<\/p>\n
The man who claimed Daniel and Rebecca had once worked together.<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore he met me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel said he was investigating Richard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Thomas\u2019s orders?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned the phone off.<\/p>\n
Another foundation collapsed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long did Daniel work for him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFive years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when did he stop?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter you got engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe proposed before quitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo even the proposal happened while he worked for Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Thomas order Daniel to marry me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Thomas was furious.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t supposed to become emotionally attached to Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently nobody asked me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas wanted Daniel close enough to observe you, not become family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned my head against the cold glass.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Daniel ever tell you he loved me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore he proposed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him to leave you alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew anyone close to you became leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you thought the safest thing was for him to break my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seems to be a family specialty.\u201d<\/p>\n
She accepted the blow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
We reached the outskirts of a small town.<\/p>\n
Rebecca turned onto a wooded road.<\/p>\n
Dr. Samuel Holt lived in a white farmhouse set behind bare maple trees.<\/p>\n
No lights.<\/p>\n
No neighboring homes visible.<\/p>\n
Rebecca parked beyond the driveway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe walk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think he\u2019s dangerous?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone is dangerous until they prove otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is.\u201d<\/p>\n
We approached from the side.<\/p>\n
Rebecca checked windows.<\/p>\n
I knocked at the front door.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
A light came on upstairs.<\/p>\n
Minutes later, locks shifted.<\/p>\n
The door opened three inches.<\/p>\n
An elderly man stared out.<\/p>\n
He looked smaller than I remembered from the hospital.<\/p>\n
Then he saw my face.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated how many people recognized me before I recognized them.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Holt.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked past me.<\/p>\n
When he saw Rebecca, he closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, no.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cWe need to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat stopped being an option.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened the door.<\/p>\n
Inside, the house smelled of wood smoke and old books.<\/p>\n
Holt locked the door behind us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you followed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sounded exactly like Mom.<\/p>\n
Rebecca placed the red box on his dining table.<\/p>\n
Holt stared at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnit 214.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face lost color.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert said it had been destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas thought so too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat have they told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to know everyone lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lowered himself into a chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anger rose in me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs my father dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went still.<\/p>\n
Dr. Holt looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never asked him directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked back at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer should have relieved me.<\/p>\n
Instead I studied his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou signed the certificate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see him die?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca cursed softly.<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means your father planned for people to believe he died at the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart pounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just said he\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did he actually die?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Holt rubbed his hands together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree days later.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stepped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt\u2019s eyes filled with grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came here after leaving the hospital through a service exit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone had tried to finish what the stroke had started.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re saying somebody tried to kill him in the hospital?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert didn\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked at the red box.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone connected to the original accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell us everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked twenty years older suddenly.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert had a stroke. A real one. Mild enough that he was expected to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered being told it was severe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came to the hospital that night. Your mother was there. Daniel was there briefly. You had gone home to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered.<\/p>\n
Mom had insisted.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Dad was supposedly unconscious.<\/p>\n
Holt continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cA nurse found a medication discrepancy. Something had been introduced into Robert\u2019s IV.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA drug that would have triggered another stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho had access?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Dad left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI moved him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou falsified his death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked ashamed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he ordered me not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed the people watching him would immediately shift focus to you if they knew he survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt stared at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert arrived just before dawn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow sick was he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould he speak?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he lucid?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMostly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he mention me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cConstantly.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat he had failed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he had spent years building protections around you without ever asking whether you wanted the life they created.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time that night, somebody\u2019s words sounded like remorse instead of strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave me a packet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat packet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInstructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor finding the master trust instrument.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
My heartbeat accelerated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just said he gave you instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe divided them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree people.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mind moved quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were believed dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne set went to me. One to Laura Chen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cLaura?\u201d<\/p>\n
My best friend.<\/p>\n
The woman I had known since university.<\/p>\n
The woman in photographs outside the library.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Dad give her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA sealed envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could not believe it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the third?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad gave Richard part of the map?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he trusted no single person to be able to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I slowly understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll required.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca began pacing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHolt\u2019s, Laura\u2019s, Richard\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMine is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone broke in four years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed Richard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard already had his own piece.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone was off, but Rebecca\u2019s began vibrating.<\/p>\n
She looked at the screen.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
She answered without speaking.<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s voice came through.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou left quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca glanced at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did you get this number?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave you the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca froze.<\/p>\n
Richard continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cSixteen years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at the device in horror.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve been tracking it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nearly threw it.<\/p>\n
I took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened at the storage facility?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother is safe. Daniel is injured but alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cInjured how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGunshot to the shoulder.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Eleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho fired?\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard was silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe men were Mercer contractors.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer Security stopped belonging to Thomas twelve years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca whispered, \u201cWho owns it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone using Robert Bennett\u2019s credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Dr. Holt.<\/p>\n
He had heard enough to understand.<\/p>\n
Richard continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire, I need you to ask Holt one question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk him who witnessed Robert\u2019s actual death.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the doctor.<\/p>\n
His face drained.<\/p>\n
Richard said, \u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho witnessed Dad die?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt\u2019s lips parted.<\/p>\n
Nothing came out.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stepped toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gripped the edge of the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s voice came sharp through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cLie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho else?\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n
He whispered, \u201cA man arrived twenty minutes before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat man?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know his name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looked like Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
I felt something inside me turn to ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough that in poor light, from a distance, they could have been brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
My voice barely worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father didn\u2019t have a brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holt whispered, \u201cThat\u2019s what I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard spoke through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert Bennett had a twin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour family erased him from every public record they could reach.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at Holt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho died in this house?\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer was worse than anything else.<\/p>\n
Richard said quietly, \u201cClaire, the man using Robert\u2019s identity isn\u2019t doing it because your father\u2019s accounts are useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he has used Robert Bennett\u2019s name before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s phone beeped.<\/p>\n
A message arrived.<\/p>\n
An image.<\/p>\n
A recent security photograph.<\/p>\n
A man entering a bank.<\/p>\n
Gray hair.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
His face turned partly toward the camera.<\/p>\n
Rebecca made a sound beside me.<\/p>\n
I took the phone.<\/p>\n
The man looked exactly like my father.<\/p>\n
Beneath the image Richard had typed one sentence.<\/p>\n
THIS WAS TAKEN YESTERDAY.<\/p>\n
We emerged into Unit 215 on our hands and knees. The space smelled of paint thinner and damp wood. Rebecca pulled the panel shut behind us. Gunshots still cracked from … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2418,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2406\/revisions\/2418"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}