Harris did not answer Brenner immediately.<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
Everything in me wanted a response.<\/p>\n
Where is Samuel?<\/p>\n
Is he hurt?<\/p>\n
What do you want?<\/p>\n
Harris did none of it.<\/p>\n
He placed the phone on the table and looked at Donna.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan Brenner spoof Samuel\u2019s number?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould he know Samuel\u2019s messaging habits?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Samuel have sent the coordinates under coercion?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire stared at the church location.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bentley stood near the kitchen doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Brenner want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris looked at me.<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
No point pretending.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bentley glanced toward the evidence bag holding the music box.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thinks we still have the real one here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut police copied it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo giving it to him doesn\u2019t fix anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would he trade Samuel for it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris stared at him.<\/p>\n
That was the correct question.<\/p>\n
Brenner could not erase evidence already copied by state and federal investigators.<\/p>\n
Unless he did not know it had been found.<\/p>\n
Or the list was not what he truly wanted.<\/p>\n
Harris replied to Brenner:<\/p>\n
PROOF SAMUEL IS ALIVE.<\/p>\n
A minute later, photograph.<\/p>\n
Samuel seated in a wooden chair.<\/p>\n
Beard.<\/p>\n
Bruised face.<\/p>\n
Bandage around one hand.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Behind him, church pews.<\/p>\n
Bentley stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Uncle Samuel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
Then at the coordinates.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked.<\/p>\n
He pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t look scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris frowned.<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s face was tired.<\/p>\n
Angry.<\/p>\n
But Bentley was right.<\/p>\n
Not frightened.<\/p>\n
His hands were visible.<\/p>\n
No rope.<\/p>\n
No cuffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould be restrained behind chair,\u201d Claire said.<\/p>\n
Bentley shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Travis tied Mom\u2019s\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
Amber had told him more than we knew.<\/p>\n
He continued carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen somebody\u2019s arms are pulled back, shoulders look different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris enlarged the photograph.<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s arms appeared relaxed.<\/p>\n
Possibly free.<\/p>\n
Donna leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat church.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou recognize it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. The chair.\u201d<\/p>\n
She zoomed in.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel carries that chair?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bentley looked at her as if she had gone mad.<\/p>\n
Donna explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cPortable folding chair. He keeps one in his van because he hates sitting with his back to doors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris looked at the photograph again.<\/p>\n
Samuel was sitting on his own chair.<\/p>\n
Not a church chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe Brenner captured him with his equipment,\u201d Claire suggested.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bentley kept studying.<\/p>\n
Then pointed again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWindow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The photograph showed a narrow stained-glass window.<\/p>\n
Light entering.<\/p>\n
But it was already night.<\/p>\n
\u201cPicture isn\u2019t now,\u201d Bentley said.<\/p>\n
Harris checked metadata.<\/p>\n
Stripped.<\/p>\n
Brenner had sent an older photograph.<\/p>\n
Proof Samuel had been alive at some point.<\/p>\n
Not proof he currently held him.<\/p>\n
Harris replied:<\/p>\n
LIVE PROOF.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Five minutes.<\/p>\n
Ten.<\/p>\n
Then a voice call.<\/p>\n
Brenner.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re wasting time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris recorded.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut Samuel on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not feeling conversational.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen no deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t control this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither do you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brenner\u2019s breathing changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring Raymond\u2019s list.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean the list Pike paid Judge Keene to support?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Harris had deliberately revealed knowledge.<\/p>\n
Brenner cursed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Samuel got to Donna.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to get people killed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve done fine at that yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never killed anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou helped bury Garner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter he was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou falsified Samuel\u2019s drowning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo keep Voss from killing him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Protection.<\/p>\n
Everyone had learned Raymond\u2019s language.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou attacked Samuel six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brenner went quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you know he lies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFunny. Everyone says that about witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brenner disconnected.<\/p>\n
Harris looked at tactical officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still approach church.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire insisted on joining command nearby.<\/p>\n
Donna too.<\/p>\n
Bentley was staying with me.<\/p>\n
He hated it.<\/p>\n
But before Harris left, Bentley asked to see the church photograph again.<\/p>\n
He studied the floor.<\/p>\n
The chair.<\/p>\n
Window.<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n
Then his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you make it bigger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris enlarged it.<\/p>\n
Bentley pointed to Samuel\u2019s left cheek.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Small dark line.<\/p>\n
Marker?<\/p>\n
Scar?<\/p>\n
Donna looked closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWriting.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Samuel\u2019s cheek, barely visible, was a black mark.<\/p>\n
Not random.<\/p>\n
Two characters.<\/p>\n
2L.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d Harris asked.<\/p>\n
Donna stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire did.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel used shorthand in our files. L meant location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo-L?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocation two.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the church is location one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bentley looked at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted somebody to notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris asked, \u201cWhy put it on his face?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Brenner wouldn\u2019t crop his face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly.<\/p>\n
Samuel had planted a clue inside the proof photograph.<\/p>\n
If Brenner sent it, Samuel expected investigators to see it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is location two?\u201d Harris asked.<\/p>\n
Claire searched Samuel\u2019s files.<\/p>\n
Nothing obvious.<\/p>\n
Donna remembered something.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe numbered safe sites.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot addresses. Descriptions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know number two?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bentley said, \u201cMaybe his map.\u201d<\/p>\n
The map from the Missouri farmhouse.<\/p>\n
Duplex.<\/p>\n
Maple tree.<\/p>\n
Other marks investigators had assumed were roads.<\/p>\n
Harris pulled up the image.<\/p>\n
Small handwritten numbers appeared at edges.<\/p>\n
1 beside the church road.<\/p>\n
2 beside a symbol north of town.<\/p>\n
A square.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s there?\u201d Harris asked.<\/p>\n
Doug looked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the old water-treatment station.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abandoned after the new municipal plant opened.<\/p>\n
Ten miles from the church.<\/p>\n
Location two.<\/p>\n
Harris changed the operation immediately.<\/p>\n
One team approached church.<\/p>\n
Another moved toward the water station.<\/p>\n
No sirens.<\/p>\n
No lights.<\/p>\n
The waiting became unbearable.<\/p>\n
Bentley sat beside my kitchen window.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel knew Brenner would use the picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wrote on his face before Brenner took it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe Brenner made him take it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Samuel still found a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bentley understood that kind of thinking.<\/p>\n
Make the lunch last.<\/p>\n
Hide from the bus.<\/p>\n
Keep Maddie quiet.<\/p>\n
Find the one small choice remaining when adults control everything else.<\/p>\n
At 11:18, church team entered.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
One folding chair.<\/p>\n
Blood on floor.<\/p>\n
Not much.<\/p>\n
Recently cleaned.<\/p>\n
Brenner had used it.<\/p>\n
But no Samuel.<\/p>\n
At 11:26, water-station team found a vehicle.<\/p>\n
Brenner\u2019s stolen sedan.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
At 11:31, movement inside.<\/p>\n
One person.<\/p>\n
Police surrounded the building.<\/p>\n
Harris called me.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then radio voices.<\/p>\n
Commands.<\/p>\n
Door opening.<\/p>\n
A man emerged.<\/p>\n
Hands raised.<\/p>\n
Not Brenner.<\/p>\n
Samuel.<\/p>\n
Bentley heard Harris say the name.<\/p>\n
He stood so fast the chair fell.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel Collins walked out of the water-treatment station alive.<\/p>\n
Injured.<\/p>\n
Exhausted.<\/p>\n
But free.<\/p>\n
Police searched the building.<\/p>\n
No Brenner.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did Samuel get there?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Harris did not yet know.<\/p>\n
An ambulance checked him.<\/p>\n
Samuel refused hospital transport until he spoke with Harris.<\/p>\n
That sounded like a Collins.<\/p>\n
His first question:<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Brenner send the church picture?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave it to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou voluntarily gave Brenner the photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I needed him to think he found my safe location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou staged this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Brenner?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked toward the dark road.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thinks I\u2019m meeting Pike.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocation three.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used us to push Brenner?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI used Brenner to lead you to Pike.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is location three?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel smiled despite the bruise on his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris swore.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe maple tree.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
Our street.<\/p>\n
Bentley\u2019s bus stop.<\/p>\n
Samuel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cPike is coming for the music box.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t know we removed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Brenner?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause each thinks the other has the original list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris shouted orders into the radio.<\/p>\n
Units turned back toward Kilgore Avenue.<\/p>\n
Toward our duplex.<\/p>\n
Toward us.<\/p>\n
I looked outside.<\/p>\n
The street seemed empty.<\/p>\n
Bentley stood beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Arlene?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pair of headlights appeared at the far end of the block.<\/p>\n
Slow.<\/p>\n
Then another vehicle turned in behind it.<\/p>\n
Two cars.<\/p>\n
Coming toward the maple tree.<\/p>\n
Harris did not answer Brenner immediately. That surprised me. Everything in me wanted a response. Where is Samuel? Is he hurt? What do you want? Harris did none of it. … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7833","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\/7833","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=7833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7873,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7833\/revisions\/7873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}