Agent Ortiz confirmed the prison problem before dawn.<\/p>\n
The man in custody had answered to Derek\u2019s identity.<\/p>\n
His fingerprints matched records Derek\u2019s company had supplied years earlier.<\/p>\n
His dental records also matched.<\/p>\n
That meant nothing anymore.<\/p>\n
Everything used to establish Derek\u2019s identity had been controlled by people connected to the network.<\/p>\n
A fresh DNA comparison was ordered using a biological sample collected from a medical procedure Derek had undergone before our marriage.<\/p>\n
Not a hospital file.<\/p>\n
A sample stored by an unrelated research registry.<\/p>\n
The result came back before noon.<\/p>\n
The prisoner was not Derek.<\/p>\n
I stared at Ortiz.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took Derek\u2019s place willingly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo spend decades in prison?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople do extraordinary things when money, family, or threats are involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Natalie.<\/p>\n
That sentence could have described almost everyone in my life.<\/p>\n
Harris paced beside the motel table.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Derek staged his death, resurfaced as himself long enough to manipulate Claire, then replaced himself before arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ortiz nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may have prepared multiple identities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel said, \u201cEverhart specialized in false identities.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward Natalie.<\/p>\n
She sat under guard near the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said he was here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognized him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scar.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat scar?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind his left ear. He got it when we were teenagers.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Derek as a teenager?\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
Another secret.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you meet him?\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not answer.<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was seventeen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
Derek was eight years older than Natalie.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew him before I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word sat between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father introduced you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I overheard them arguing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed Derek afterward. He caught me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was nice to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was his specialty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me Dad was involved in illegal business. He said he was trying to protect you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt seventeen, you believed him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer hurt more because it was honest.<\/p>\n
Natalie explained that Derek gradually turned her into an intermediary.<\/p>\n
At first, harmless errands.<\/p>\n
Passing envelopes.<\/p>\n
Delivering a phone.<\/p>\n
Carrying messages supposedly connected to our father\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n
Then money.<\/p>\n
Accounts.<\/p>\n
False signatures.<\/p>\n
By the time she realized she had committed crimes, Derek possessed evidence that could destroy her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter his staged death.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
She had been communicating with both of them.<\/p>\n
My supposedly dead father.<\/p>\n
My supposedly loving husband.<\/p>\n
Each using her against the other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Dad tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo stay close to Derek.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel swore softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used her as an informant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it was the only way to learn what Derek knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Dad knew Derek married me under false pretenses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he still let it continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie started crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought Derek had become attached to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttached?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe believed Derek might stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fourteen years reduced to a gamble.<\/p>\n
My father had watched a man sent by criminals enter my life and decided perhaps love would neutralize him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an extraordinary family.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one answered.<\/p>\n
Harris returned to the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cDescribe it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
Old county fair.<\/p>\n
My father holding me on his shoulders.<\/p>\n
Blue balloons behind us.<\/p>\n
A date printed on the lower border.<\/p>\n
Samuel asked, \u201cOriginal print?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho took it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe worked as a systems analyst before you were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe helped Edward design the encryption archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my stomach tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother was involved too?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in Everhart.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn hiding the records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every adult in my childhood seemed to have lived a second life.<\/p>\n
Samuel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father may have embedded the key in something she created.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ortiz asked, \u201cDigital steganography?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot twenty-five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMicroprint?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould be.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the photo border.<\/p>\n
A thin decorative pattern.<\/p>\n
Tiny black marks I had always assumed were printing artifacts.<\/p>\n
Harris said, \u201cDerek took the original because the key may be physically encoded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens if he gets the master index?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can identify everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictims?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMembers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLaw enforcement?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJudges?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPoliticians?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLikely.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he has leverage over the whole network.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he has both pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know whether he has the index.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every head turned.<\/p>\n
She swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d Ortiz asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek kept it in a storage unit under another identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat identity?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside Denver.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you find it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris leaned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe isn\u2019t enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie glared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was never given an address. He blindfolded me during the drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy take you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needed help moving boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDescribe the route.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did.<\/p>\n
Highway sounds.<\/p>\n
A train crossing.<\/p>\n
A gravel road.<\/p>\n
A chemical smell nearby.<\/p>\n
Two security gates.<\/p>\n
Ortiz sent the details to analysts.<\/p>\n
I watched Natalie.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell us before?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Derek said if I revealed the index, he\u2019d kill Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost smiled at the absurdity.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad is alive because everyone keeps threatening to kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie flinched.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had run out of patience with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou screamed in my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou planted Derek\u2019s belongings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou helped convince Dr. Evans to alter records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her answer was barely audible.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever stop and think I might kill myself?\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Natalie looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought about it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you continued.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Derek sent me recordings of Dad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat recordings?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie\u2019s face crumpled.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek found Dad six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou spoke to him on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat call was controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s call to me.<\/p>\n
The apology.<\/p>\n
The warning.<\/p>\n
The fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was being held.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he say so?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Derek told him you would die if he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
That explained the pauses.<\/p>\n
The strange carefulness.<\/p>\n
The way he answered around questions.<\/p>\n
Harris asked, \u201cDo you have proof?\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a video on my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ortiz had technicians recover it.<\/p>\n
The footage showed my father sitting in a plain room.<\/p>\n
A newspaper rested on the table.<\/p>\n
The date was two weeks earlier.<\/p>\n
He looked older.<\/p>\n
Thin.<\/p>\n
But unmistakably alive.<\/p>\n
Someone behind the camera asked him to read a statement.<\/p>\n
He refused.<\/p>\n
A man\u2019s hand entered the frame and struck him.<\/p>\n
I turned away.<\/p>\n
The voice off-camera said, \u201cTell Natalie what happens if Claire finds the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
My father looked directly at the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t hurt her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek answered from behind the lens.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n
My father said nothing.<\/p>\n
Derek laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difficult thing about daughters is choosing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie had been trapped.<\/p>\n
That did not absolve her.<\/p>\n
But for the first time, I understood the machinery around her.<\/p>\n
Derek never needed loyalty.<\/p>\n
Only leverage.<\/p>\n
Ortiz paused the video on a frame showing part of the room.<\/p>\n
Concrete wall.<\/p>\n
Small high window.<\/p>\n
A metal shelf.<\/p>\n
Yellow safety sign.<\/p>\n
She enlarged it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndustrial site.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we identify the sign?\u201d<\/p>\n
Technicians enhanced the frame.<\/p>\n
A company logo appeared.<\/p>\n
Garrison Cold Storage.<\/p>\n
Ortiz\u2019s analysts found three facilities under that name.<\/p>\n
One had closed five years earlier.<\/p>\n
Outside Denver.<\/p>\n
Near a freight line.<\/p>\n
Natalie stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris looked at Ortiz.<\/p>\n
\u201cStorage unit and hostage site.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cI\u2019m going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone answered at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Then said, \u201cI didn\u2019t ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ortiz crossed her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd likely expects you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not an argument in your favor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is if the photograph is useless without me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would it be?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father said I\u2019ve had the key since childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t say the photograph was the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris understood first.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek thinks it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else could it be?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought through childhood objects.<\/p>\n
A music box.<\/p>\n
A bracelet.<\/p>\n
Books.<\/p>\n
A stuffed rabbit.<\/p>\n
Then remembered my mother teaching me a game.<\/p>\n
Whenever we looked at the fair photograph, she asked the same question.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s wrong with the picture?<\/p>\n
I would search.<\/p>\n
Wrong color balloon.<\/p>\n
Missing shoe.<\/p>\n
Strange cloud.<\/p>\n
Never the same answer.<\/p>\n
A game about noticing.<\/p>\n
I told Samuel.<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe trained you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo recognize a pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes and reconstructed the photograph.<\/p>\n
The border.<\/p>\n
The balloons.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s shirt.<\/p>\n
The ferris wheel behind us.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered something odd.<\/p>\n
My mother had written letters on the back.<\/p>\n
Not a message.<\/p>\n
A sequence.<\/p>\n
I had always assumed they were print-lab marks.<\/p>\n
B R G B R R G.<\/p>\n
Colors.<\/p>\n
Blue.<\/p>\n
Red.<\/p>\n
Green.<\/p>\n
The balloons.<\/p>\n
Samuel whispered, \u201cCipher order.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe photograph tells you how to read something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe master index,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek had only half the solution.<\/p>\n
For now.<\/p>\n
Ortiz made a decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe use that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The operation formed quickly.<\/p>\n
Federal agents would raid the Garrison facility.<\/p>\n
I would remain far away.<\/p>\n
A duplicate photograph would be prepared with a tracking strip hidden in the frame.<\/p>\n
We would circulate false information that I was willing to exchange the key for my father.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Derek is monitoring us,\u201d Ortiz said, \u201che\u2019ll respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did.<\/p>\n
At 6:38 that evening, my phone rang.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
Harris recorded.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek\u2019s real voice.<\/p>\n
Not the substitute.<\/p>\n
Not a recording.<\/p>\n
Him.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt nothing at first.<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s my father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A video call opened.<\/p>\n
My father appeared.<\/p>\n
Same concrete room.<\/p>\n
Bruised cheek.<\/p>\n
He looked into the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes filled.<\/p>\n
Derek moved into frame.<\/p>\n
For the first time since his supposed death, I saw my husband alive in real time.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
Thinner.<\/p>\n
Hair longer.<\/p>\n
But unmistakably the man I had slept beside for fourteen years.<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you\u2019re a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The smile faded slightly.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring the photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already took it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you finally admit it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked impressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always were smarter than your father thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
My father flinched.<\/p>\n
I saw it.<\/p>\n
Derek noticed me seeing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat bothered you, didn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll get instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he dies, you get nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Derek leaned closer to the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you bring police, he dies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
Ortiz began issuing orders.<\/p>\n
Then my phone vibrated again.<\/p>\n
A text.<\/p>\n
COME ALONE.<\/p>\n
Attached was a map pin.<\/p>\n
Not Garrison Cold Storage.<\/p>\n
A different location entirely.<\/p>\n
Samuel looked over my shoulder.<\/p>\n
His face went white.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed at the address.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Everhart\u2019s original headquarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
The building where the network had begun.<\/p>\n
Abandoned for seventeen years.<\/p>\n
And according to Samuel, beneath it was another archive.<\/p>\n
Derek wasn\u2019t just arranging an exchange.<\/p>\n
He was gathering every piece in one place.<\/p>\n
Agent Ortiz confirmed the prison problem before dawn. The man in custody had answered to Derek\u2019s identity. His fingerprints matched records Derek\u2019s company had supplied years earlier. His dental records … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11070,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050\/revisions\/11070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}