For several seconds, nobody said anything.<\/p>\n
The motel room suddenly felt too small for five people, even though Cal remained outside the chained door.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at the transaction authorization screen.<\/p>\n
Stephanie stared at me.<\/p>\n
I stared at the initials MK.<\/p>\n
Martin Kincaid.<\/p>\n
Eighty-six thousand dollars had moved through a company bearing a distorted version of my name, approved by both of Cal's parents.<\/p>\n
Cal was the first to speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cSend me that file.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop calling me that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to see everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're seeing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father's name is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo is your mother's.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen maybe you should stop acting surprised every time someone else behaves like you.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face tightened.<\/p>\n
That landed.<\/p>\n
I leaned closer to the laptop.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did the eighty-six thousand originate?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca opened the source column.<\/p>\n
Most payments came from Northline operating accounts.<\/p>\n
A few came through entities I didn't recognize.<\/p>\n
Two traced back to property transactions.<\/p>\n
One came directly from a private loan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose loan?\u201d<\/p>\n
She enlarged it.<\/p>\n
Borrower:<\/p>\n
Northline Ventures.<\/p>\n
Guarantor:<\/p>\n
Calvin Kincaid.<\/p>\n
Secondary guarantor:<\/p>\n
Martin Kincaid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat money became a distribution?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo part of Cal's debt may have gone directly to his parents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal stood outside the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad was covering my debt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe with money he had already taken from it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've said no to a lot of things that turned out to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father gave me money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe forty thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom which account?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked down.<\/p>\n
Of course he hadn't.<\/p>\n
Martin had been the responsible father.<\/p>\n
The fixer.<\/p>\n
The man who told him to confess while quietly signing distributions elsewhere.<\/p>\n
I thought of the anonymous message.<\/p>\n
A desperate son never audits his father.<\/p>\n
Suddenly it seemed less like provocation and more like accounting advice.<\/p>\n
Stephanie took out her phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm calling Eric.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal said, \u201cHe already knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stared through the gap in the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he's the one sending messages, he knows more than any of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoever has been sending Josie messages knew where Laura was, knew about the apartment, knew about Martin's role, and knew this account existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cEric could know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould he know about the insurance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould he know what happened December fourteenth?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould he know where Cal hid the burner phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat required very current access.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Cal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho besides you knew the phone was in the suitcase?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father knew the suitcase existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal's expression shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus wouldn't warn Josie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause exposure hurts him too.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the problem.<\/p>\n
Every suspect had motive to reveal something and motive to conceal something else.<\/p>\n
I returned to the ledger.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is JKM Consulting registered to?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca searched corporate records saved in the file.<\/p>\n
Mailing address:<\/p>\n
A post-office box.<\/p>\n
Registered agent:<\/p>\n
A filing service.<\/p>\n
Organizer:<\/p>\n
Diane Kincaid.<\/p>\n
Formation date:<\/p>\n
Two years earlier.<\/p>\n
Five days after my insurance policy was issued.<\/p>\n
I stared at the date.<\/p>\n
\u201cDecember eighth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca nodded.<\/p>\n
Insurance policy: December sixth.<\/p>\n
JKM formed: December eighth.<\/p>\n
My urgent-care visit: December fourteenth.<\/p>\n
Too many events were stacked inside eight days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Diane create this immediately after the policy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was your mother that week?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie said, \u201cWe need Martin here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca's tone was firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we don't know whose side he's on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal looked offended on his father's behalf despite everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe's not dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe helped hide eighty-six thousand dollars behind your wife's identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn't mean\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my contacts and called Martin anyway.<\/p>\n
He answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Cal there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cI'm coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJosie\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me what JKM Consulting is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went quiet.<\/p>\n
His silence confirmed recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's becoming a family motto.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you take eighty-six thousand dollars through it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger shows approvals by you and Diane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApprovals aren't distributions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were transfers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn escrow arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin recognized her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose funds weren't personal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why hide them behind a company named to resemble Josie?\u201d<\/p>\n
A long pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Marcus couldn't know where they were going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal stepped closer to the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin heard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cCal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, what did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith eighty-six thousand dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn't for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat investors?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two people Cal never met.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first financing round. Marcus brought in two silent investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew there were investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never knew who.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cA retired couple from Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were shell investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin went silent.<\/p>\n
Rebecca opened another ledger page.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir capital came from an account funded by MVA Holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marcus's company.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Marcus invested under fake names?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin said, \u201cThat isn't what he told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you think you were protecting them from?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthline's collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal stared through the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou siphoned money out of my company because you thought you were protecting investors?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was building reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing Mom's fake company?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not supposed to be fake.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt uses a version of my name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn't my idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDiane's.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal muttered something under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she tell you?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat if Northline went under, money held by an entity linked to you would be harder for Marcus to seize.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt cold despite the overheated motel room.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo my identity wasn't just used for credit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was also used as a shield.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor money you were hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney that wasn't mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if investigators found it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin did not answer.<\/p>\n
Rebecca did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey might initially think Josie was participating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly.<\/p>\n
Every protection in this family seemed to work by placing danger closer to me.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cWhy were both you and Diane approving the transfers?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Northline required two administrators above twenty thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you an administrator?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a few months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCal knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Dad had access. I didn't know he was moving money to JKM.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin said, \u201cYou weren't supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything was insane by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
For once, we agreed.<\/p>\n
I looked at the ledger again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the eighty-six thousand now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cMostly gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPayments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthline obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would show in the books.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot those obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin's voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus's people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was paying them directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you couldn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me Marcus wouldn't accept partial payments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wouldn't from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The meaning arrived slowly.<\/p>\n
Martin had been secretly paying Cal's creditor while allowing Cal to believe the debt remained larger.<\/p>\n
I thought again of the anonymous message.<\/p>\n
Why Martin needed Cal to stay in debt.<\/p>\n
I asked, \u201cHow much of Cal's current one hundred twenty thousand is real?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEstimate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe forty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal's face emptied.<\/p>\n
\u201cForty?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn't verify interest and penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me I owed one-twenty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus told you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you knew I had paid more?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith my payments and yours? At least seventy-five.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal took a step backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let me think I owed him one hundred twenty thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed you cautious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let me steal from Josie because you wanted me cautious?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know you were taking that much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew I was desperate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin didn't answer.<\/p>\n
Cal's voice became sharp.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you need me desperate?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the phone.<\/p>\n
This was the question the anonymous sender had given us.<\/p>\n
Finally Martin said, \u201cBecause every time you thought you were close to being free, you went back to Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
Rebecca closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
Cal looked stunned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew about the affair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter December fourteenth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you kept me in debt to keep me away from her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca whispered, \u201cThat's sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIt was survival.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else happened with Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin went silent again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat aren't you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked suddenly uneasy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI promised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPromised whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal stepped forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou promised Marcus something about Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I'd keep you away from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal gave a short, disbelieving laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in return?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMarcus didn't expose the forged Northline documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
A bargain.<\/p>\n
Martin had protected Cal from criminal exposure by helping Marcus control him.<\/p>\n
And to preserve that bargain, he had helped keep Cal financially trapped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long?\u201d Cal asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched me panic for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI watched you survive for two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched me destroy my marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was your choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
For once Martin said something entirely true.<\/p>\n
Cal looked at me.<\/p>\n
I couldn't read his face.<\/p>\n
Shame.<\/p>\n
Anger.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the realization that he had inherited the same logic he had used on me: deception justified as protection.<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cWhy did Marcus want Cal away from me so badly?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin did not answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I'm his sister?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another long silence.<\/p>\n
Finally:<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you knew where the missing ninety thousand really went.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCal didn't steal all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Northline money everyone thinks Cal diverted\u2014the ninety thousand\u2014only forty-two went through his accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw altered records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did the rest go?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin spoke quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo JKM Consulting.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the laptop.<\/p>\n
Cal whispered, \u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin didn't correct him.<\/p>\n
Rebecca opened transaction history.<\/p>\n
Her fingers moved quickly.<\/p>\n
Forty-eight thousand.<\/p>\n
A cluster of transfers.<\/p>\n
All within six weeks around December two years earlier.<\/p>\n
Total:<\/p>\n
$48,200.<\/p>\n
Straight into JKM.<\/p>\n
Combined with Cal's forty-two thousand, it produced nearly the exact ninety-thousand-dollar theft Marcus blamed on him.<\/p>\n
Cal sat down outside the motel door.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents let Marcus think I stole ninety.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin said, \u201cWe didn't create that assumption.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let it stand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo keep Marcus focused on you instead of asking where the rest went.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did it go after JKM?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin's answer came so quietly I almost missed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo pay off your mother's debt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cal stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat debt?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin said nothing.<\/p>\n
Cal looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat debt did Mom have?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Diane.<\/p>\n
Bookkeeping.<\/p>\n
The roof.<\/p>\n
The house transferred to Northline.<\/p>\n
Her desperate insistence that she personally gained nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she owe?\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin finally answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cGambling.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word hung in the motel room.<\/p>\n
Cal looked almost offended by its impossibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother doesn't gamble.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin's laugh was exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe does online.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the worst point? Over two hundred thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody moved.<\/p>\n
The fake company.<\/p>\n
The house.<\/p>\n
The siphoned Northline money.<\/p>\n
The urgency.<\/p>\n
The forged structures.<\/p>\n
The hidden payments.<\/p>\n
Not all of it had been built to protect Cal.<\/p>\n
Some of it had been built to rescue Diane.<\/p>\n
And Cal, drowning in his own lies, had been the perfect cover.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
You know enough now.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
But Martin is still protecting Diane.<\/p>\n
And finally:<\/p>\n
Ask him who put the sedative bottle in your kitchen.<\/p>\n
I looked at the phone.<\/p>\n
Then listened to Martin breathe on the other end of the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho moved the bottle?\u201d<\/p>\n
He went silent.<\/p>\n
Rebecca watched my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin?\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice broke slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiane.\u201d<\/p>\n
For several seconds, nobody said anything. The motel room suddenly felt too small for five people, even though Cal remained outside the chained door. Rebecca stared at the transaction authorization … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6314","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\/6314","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=6314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6345,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6314\/revisions\/6345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}