Agent Kim did not allow me to answer.<\/p>\n
She pulled Matthew and me into the laundry room while officers spread through the house and yard.<\/p>\n
Outside, Vance shouted again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't come to hurt anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim muttered, \u201cThen he picked an interesting entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crash at the front had come from an empty SUV pushed through the outer gate.<\/p>\n
A distraction.<\/p>\n
Vance had approached from the rear while officers responded.<\/p>\n
He knew protective tactics.<\/p>\n
He had helped design some of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere's Lucy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith two agents in the front hall.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she safe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew clutched Buttons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's Gabriel?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you that name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard Uncle Ray.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course he had.<\/p>\n
Children heard everything adults assumed they missed.<\/p>\n
Vance shouted, \u201cI know you can hear me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim touched her radio.<\/p>\n
No response.<\/p>\n
The jammer.<\/p>\n
Vance had cut power and communications.<\/p>\n
Backup had been requested before the signal disappeared, but nobody knew how long it would take.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat's he doing?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
An officer watched through a narrow camera feed running on battery.<\/p>\n
\u201cStanding by the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWeapon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNone visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVisible isn't the same as none.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew whispered, \u201cHe wants Dad's key.\u201d<\/p>\n
I crouched.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stay with Agent Kim.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the truth.<\/p>\n
For the next minute.<\/p>\n
Vance called again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone stopped.<\/p>\n
Kim looked toward me.<\/p>\n
Vance continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know where he is.\u201d<\/p>\n
A trap.<\/p>\n
Obviously.<\/p>\n
Yet if Harlan lived, he was a witness to Dad's murder and Mom's framing.<\/p>\n
Vance knew exactly which piece to place on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's lying,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants you outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance shouted, \u201cClaire is lying to you too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucy appeared in the corridor with an agent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
I repeated it.<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe'll divide everyone if he can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Claire lying?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucy hesitated.<\/p>\n
That hesitation mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cLucy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire did not tell you everything about the newspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat didn't she tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Lucy answered, Vance did.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk Claire who buried Ernest's first story!\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
Lucy closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire's editor killed the original investigation before Ernest died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLegal pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance had been controlling the story even while pretending to help Dad.<\/p>\n
But that did not make Claire responsible for murder.<\/p>\n
It made her another person frightened into silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's trying to make us doubt each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why does he have the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucy looked toward the yard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause everyone underestimated how much evidence he controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Dad.<\/p>\n
He had not underestimated Vance.<\/p>\n
Not at the end.<\/p>\n
That was why he created copies.<\/p>\n
Why he hid the code separately.<\/p>\n
Why he left clues with his children instead of another investigator.<\/p>\n
He had finally stopped trusting institutions and started trusting redundancy.<\/p>\n
Vance shouted again.<\/p>\n
\u201cValerie, the ledger contains your father's last mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted not to care.<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim grabbed my arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't engage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance answered anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought Ray was the weak link.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Dad's notation.<\/p>\n
SALAZAR ORDERED IT. HARLAN DID IT. RAY SAW EVERYTHING.<\/p>\n
Then the fresh message:<\/p>\n
RAY DIDN'T JUST WATCH.<\/p>\n
Vance was using the same uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cRay confessed,\u201d I shouted before Kim could stop me.<\/p>\n
Vance laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cRay confessed to what he could survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentence landed.<\/p>\n
Ray had admitted drugging Mom.<\/p>\n
Moving the knife.<\/p>\n
Threatening Matthew.<\/p>\n
Helping stage the scene.<\/p>\n
He claimed he did not know Dad would be murdered.<\/p>\n
What had he omitted?<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't listen,\u201d Lucy said.<\/p>\n
But I remembered Ray's phrasing.<\/p>\n
It wasn't supposed to happen.<\/p>\n
Salazar told me to keep Ernest calm.<\/p>\n
Salazar gave me pills.<\/p>\n
Always Salazar.<\/p>\n
Always someone else initiating the next step.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Ray do?\u201d I shouted.<\/p>\n
Vance raised the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring the code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim pulled me away from the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may shoot you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn't need me dead yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's not protection.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was right.<\/p>\n
Then Matthew spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn't need Val.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew hugged Buttons tighter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Dad showed me the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart tightened.<\/p>\n
Vance had threatened Matthew through Bruno.<\/p>\n
Ray had worried about what Matthew remembered.<\/p>\n
Dad had hidden the key in Matthew's bear and the ledger in a place Matthew had seen.<\/p>\n
What else had Dad entrusted to him?<\/p>\n
Matthew looked frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was another thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I crouched.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat thing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Dad showed me the secret place in the Buick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said if bad men ever asked about his book, I should say a word.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat word?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad said only say it to the lady.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat lady?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
He squeezed his eyes shut.<\/p>\n
\u201cNewspaper lady.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire.<\/p>\n
Dad had prepared for the possibility that the ledger and code could both be stolen.<\/p>\n
A verbal authentication phrase.<\/p>\n
Something only Matthew and Claire were supposed to know.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you remember the word?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
I gripped his shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here. Not to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucy understood immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Vance knows Ernest created an authentication phrase, then the ledger and key aren't enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs Matthew.\u201d<\/p>\n
That explained the threat.<\/p>\n
Keep him close until tomorrow night.<\/p>\n
Ray's message had not only meant preventing Matthew from remembering.<\/p>\n
Vance needed the child alive and accessible.<\/p>\n
Until the archive deletion.<\/p>\n
Then Matthew became unnecessary.<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
Outside, Vance changed tactics.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatthew!\u201d<\/p>\n
My brother flinched.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI found Bruno!\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance called.<\/p>\n
Matthew pressed his lips together.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's safe!\u201d<\/p>\n
I held my brother tighter.<\/p>\n
Vance continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father told me what he told you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew whispered, \u201cNo, he didn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Dad said Gabriel was bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everything inside me stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad told you Gabriel was bad?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said if Gabriel asked about the book, run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad had known Vance was compromised before he died.<\/p>\n
He had told a two-year-old in the simplest language possible.<\/p>\n
Gabriel bad.<\/p>\n
Run.<\/p>\n
That memory had survived even when names and dates disappeared.<\/p>\n
I looked toward the yard.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's bluffing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Dad never trusted him with the final authentication.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucy understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich means Vance cannot use the ledger without Matthew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or destroy the right records before midnight.<\/p>\n
The ledger's coded entries identified where evidence was stored.<\/p>\n
The code translated them.<\/p>\n
Matthew's phrase authenticated the genuine set.<\/p>\n
Three pieces.<\/p>\n
Dad had separated them.<\/p>\n
Vance possessed one.<\/p>\n
We possessed two.<\/p>\n
The balance of power shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we use that?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Kim's expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She spoke with the tactical officer.<\/p>\n
They could stall Vance until backup restored communications.<\/p>\n
But Vance had survived investigations for years because he anticipated ordinary moves.<\/p>\n
We needed something he did not anticipate.<\/p>\n
The answer came from Ray.<\/p>\n
A battery radio crackled to life.<\/p>\n
An officer had established short-range contact with a unit outside the jammer radius.<\/p>\n
Message from Alvarez.<\/p>\n
Ray Mendoza wants to speak to Valerie immediately.<\/p>\n
Kim refused at first.<\/p>\n
Then Alvarez relayed why.<\/p>\n
Ray knew where Harlan was.<\/p>\n
The hunting cabin had not been the final meeting place.<\/p>\n
There was an abandoned vehicle-processing warehouse connected to the old theft operation.<\/p>\n
Vance had taken Harlan there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Harlan alive?\u201d I asked through the radio.<\/p>\n
Ray believed so.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow would he know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Because Harlan had called him from the warehouse less than an hour earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
The radio hissed.<\/p>\n
Alvarez's voice came through broken but understandable.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Vance is going to kill everyone connected to Ernest's evidence before midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another burst of static.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
\u201cStarting with Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Lucy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Claire?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face drained.<\/p>\n
Federal custody.<\/p>\n
Different location.<\/p>\n
Supposedly secure.<\/p>\n
But Vance had known enough to find our safe house.<\/p>\n
We relayed the warning.<\/p>\n
Outside, Vance began moving along the fence.<\/p>\n
An officer tracked him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's getting impatient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
Impatience created mistakes.<\/p>\n
I stepped toward the protected doorway.<\/p>\n
Kim blocked me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need him focused on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe already is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you proposing?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Matthew.<\/p>\n
Then at Dad's code sheet inside an evidence pouch on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cA fake key.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lucy understood first.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe show him something that looks like the original.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has seen the ledger. He may be able to test it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot without Matthew's phrase.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could make Vance believe we were willing to trade.<\/p>\n
Keep him talking.<\/p>\n
Get him closer.<\/p>\n
Give backup time.<\/p>\n
Kim hated it.<\/p>\n
That made it probably reasonable.<\/p>\n
An officer copied Dad's code onto another sheet, changing several values.<\/p>\n
From a distance it looked authentic.<\/p>\n
I took it.<\/p>\n
Matthew grabbed my sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't go.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knelt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not going through the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPromise?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That promise I could keep.<\/p>\n
Kim positioned officers.<\/p>\n
I stepped into the rear doorway but remained behind the reinforced wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cVance!\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBring it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou bring me the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father would be proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't talk about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was clever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou murdered him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sent him to people who did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour uncle did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was again.<\/p>\n
Ray.<\/p>\n
Always Ray.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen tell me what Ray did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance walked closer.<\/p>\n
Not enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cRay called Salazar the day Ernest planned to meet Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart kicked.<\/p>\n
Ray had claimed Salazar arranged the confrontation independently.<\/p>\n
Vance continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour uncle told us Ernest was going public.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Ernest was going to turn Ray in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray had not simply obeyed.<\/p>\n
He had triggered the final confrontation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRay gave Teresa the sedative before Salazar ever asked him to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
That contradicted Ray's confession.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted her unconscious when he searched the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Ray know Dad might be killed?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance smiled faintly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew men with guns were coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was not proof he intended murder.<\/p>\n
But it destroyed his claim of innocent surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should I believe you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Ray has spent six years raising your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stiffened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk yourself why.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance took another step.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was watching Matthew.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
Ray's guardianship.<\/p>\n
The boxes.<\/p>\n
Buttons.<\/p>\n
The chair beneath Matthew's bedroom door.<\/p>\n
Ray had kept the one person Dad entrusted with clues under his roof.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was waiting for Matthew to remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr reveal where Ernest hid something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance raised the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow give me the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrow me the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we're done.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped backward.<\/p>\n
Vance's composure cracked.<\/p>\n
\u201cValerie.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cMidnight is less than eight hours away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you should hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think this is about me staying out of prison?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time, something close to fear appeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf those archives open instead of being deleted, people far more dangerous than Salazar become visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father understood too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe understood you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance looked at Matthew's silhouette behind the interior wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n
I moved immediately to block his view.<\/p>\n
That was his mistake.<\/p>\n
He had looked at Matthew too long.<\/p>\n
The tactical officer gave the signal.<\/p>\n
A shot cracked from the far side of the property.<\/p>\n
Not at Vance.<\/p>\n
A distraction round into a safe barrier.<\/p>\n
Vance turned instinctively.<\/p>\n
Two officers surged from cover.<\/p>\n
He ran.<\/p>\n
Fast for his age.<\/p>\n
He reached the fence line.<\/p>\n
Then another team appeared beyond it.<\/p>\n
Backup had arrived.<\/p>\n
Vance stopped.<\/p>\n
For one second he stood between two groups of armed officers, Dad's ledger clutched against his chest.<\/p>\n
Then he threw it.<\/p>\n
Not toward us.<\/p>\n
Into a metal burn barrel beside the fence.<\/p>\n
Flame rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n
I moved.<\/p>\n
Kim caught me.<\/p>\n
An officer reached the barrel within seconds and kicked it over.<\/p>\n
Pages scattered across wet grass.<\/p>\n
Some burned.<\/p>\n
Some did not.<\/p>\n
Vance was forced to the ground.<\/p>\n
His hands were cuffed.<\/p>\n
I watched him press his face into the dirt while agents recovered Dad's ledger page by page.<\/p>\n
He began laughing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still don't have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe final page.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
He turned his head enough to see me.<\/p>\n
\u201cErnest tore it out before I got the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vance smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk Ray.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
Then his expression changed.<\/p>\n
He looked beyond me.<\/p>\n
Toward Matthew.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr ask the boy what his father put inside the dog collar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew went rigid.<\/p>\n
I turned to him.<\/p>\n
Bruno's collar.<\/p>\n
Thomas Reed had said Bruno arrived without tags.<\/p>\n
But he had never said the collar itself was empty.<\/p>\n
Matthew whispered, \u201cDad's name was inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe collar had a little pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered it.<\/p>\n
A leather collar Dad bought because it held identification information beneath a folded flap.<\/p>\n
Investigators had searched Reed's stored belongings.<\/p>\n
But Bruno was still wearing a newer collar.<\/p>\n
Where was the original?<\/p>\n
Reed had kept it.<\/p>\n
In a box with old veterinary records.<\/p>\n
Federal agents recovered it before evening.<\/p>\n
Inside the cracked leather flap was a strip of waterproof paper.<\/p>\n
Not the final ledger page.<\/p>\n
Something smaller.<\/p>\n
A list of six names.<\/p>\n
The first five were people Dad had identified as witnesses.<\/p>\n
The sixth stopped me cold.<\/p>\n
TERESA MENDOZA.<\/p>\n
Beside Mom's name, Dad had written:<\/p>\n
SHE HEARD VANCE THAT NIGHT.<\/p>\n
I stared at the sentence.<\/p>\n
Mom had told us she heard Ray.<\/p>\n
Salazar.<\/p>\n
Another man.<\/p>\n
She claimed she never saw his face.<\/p>\n
But Dad's note said she heard Vance.<\/p>\n
My mother had known Samuel Vance was inside our house the night my father died.<\/p>\n
And for six years, she had never told me.<\/p>\n
Agent Kim did not allow me to answer. She pulled Matthew and me into the laundry room while officers spread through the house and yard. Outside, Vance shouted again. \u201cI … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5983","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\/5983","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=5983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6001,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5983\/revisions\/6001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}