The video went black, but the secure connection remained open.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
I leaned toward the laptop as though getting closer to the screen might somehow bring her back.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca, can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n
A muffled sound came through the speakers.<\/p>\n
Then Mark\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
One word.<\/p>\n
Quiet.<\/p>\n
Close enough to the microphone that every person in the room heard it.<\/p>\n
Officer Ramirez immediately relayed the development to investigators working with authorities near Rebecca\u2019s location. The address had been kept from me until that moment, but there was no longer any reason for secrecy. Rebecca lived outside Crescent Bay, California, in a small rental house overlooking a wooded ravine.<\/p>\n
Police were already moving.<\/p>\n
Not fast enough.<\/p>\n
Something scraped across Rebecca\u2019s floor.<\/p>\n
Then her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark answered, \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
No shouting.<\/p>\n
No threats.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than either would have.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cHow did you find me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
Sister Margaret had betrayed her?<\/p>\n
Then Mark added, \u201cNot willingly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert had been watching the shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Robert had spent years collecting insurance against everyone.<\/p>\n
Mark said Robert discovered that Sister Margaret remained in contact with Rebecca. He never learned Rebecca\u2019s exact address, but he traced mail forwarded through a charitable organization in Crescent Bay.<\/p>\n
After Mark shot Robert during their fight, he took Robert\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n
The address was there.<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you came to finish what you started?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFourteen years late is a strange time to grow a conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t come to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
The contempt in her voice needed no volume.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I realized then that the video had failed but the audio remained active.<\/p>\n
Rebecca had probably closed the laptop or knocked its camera aside.<\/p>\n
Mark did not seem to know we were listening.<\/p>\n
Or perhaps he did and no longer cared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need you to come back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rebecca laughed once.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to testify.\u201d<\/p>\n
That silenced everyone in our room.<\/p>\n
Mark continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe took Emily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was going to kill her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do I.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI stopped him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFourteen years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had Sarah\u2019s sister at the freight yard. He wanted Rebecca\u2019s evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s reply came slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean my evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still say my name like I\u2019m someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark breathed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not asking you to forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what are you asking?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp me put Robert away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s answer was immediate.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark sounded stunned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tried to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you helped him erase me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI stopped him at Pine Ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you let him destroy the report.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was scared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stole my money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou forged my signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told everyone I was unstable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let my mother die believing I might be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark had no answer.<\/p>\n
Rebecca continued, each sentence controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get to arrive at my door and turn yourself into the man who rescued me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not trying to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice sharpened for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to stop him before he gets out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s under arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won\u2019t stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he has something.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Ramirez.<\/p>\n
She was already taking notes.<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvidence on other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat people?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJudges. Officers. Prosecutors.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became very quiet.<\/p>\n
Mark explained that Robert had spent decades collecting secrets.<\/p>\n
Some involved money.<\/p>\n
Some affairs.<\/p>\n
Some misconduct.<\/p>\n
Some were probably meaningless.<\/p>\n
Others were not.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never destroyed evidence unless he had to,\u201d Mark said. \u201cHe kept copies because copies gave him leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca understood immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe records room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the small collection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramirez whispered, \u201cSmall?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s another archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect me to believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never trusted me enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou paid him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was useful to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were partners.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The distinction mattered to Mark.<\/p>\n
Not to Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert has enough material to bargain,\u201d he said. \u201cIf he gives investigators bigger cases, he\u2019ll negotiate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kidnapped Emily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll say he was trying to recover stolen evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shot at you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI shot him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca was silent.<\/p>\n
Mark added, \u201cHe pulled the gun first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe true.<\/p>\n
Maybe not.<\/p>\n
Then Rebecca asked, \u201cWhy should I care whether Robert gets twenty years or thirty?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he knows where your original evidence went.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s breathing changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat original evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe metal case.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI took it from the motel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI carried it outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe case your father\u2019s friend drove away with was a decoy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my hands go cold.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert switched them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Pine Ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had access to your house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave him copies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCopies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found the original case too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stopped speaking.<\/p>\n
Mark explained that Robert had photographed everything before the confrontation at Pine Ridge. When he realized Rebecca had duplicated the records, he replaced the metal case with one containing selected copies.<\/p>\n
Enough evidence to frighten Mark.<\/p>\n
Not enough to expose Robert.<\/p>\n
Rebecca had spent years believing she escaped with the complete archive.<\/p>\n
She had not.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was missing?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca inhaled.<\/p>\n
Even through the poor audio, I heard it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat ledger?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
Emily, sitting beside me, answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cNames.\u201d<\/p>\n
She had seen references in Mark\u2019s financial records.<\/p>\n
Not just Mark\u2019s clients.<\/p>\n
Other people.<\/p>\n
Payments.<\/p>\n
Dates.<\/p>\n
Accounts.<\/p>\n
Rebecca had uncovered a network of fraud wider than Mark.<\/p>\n
Robert had realized its value before she understood what she possessed.<\/p>\n
Mark said, \u201cThat\u2019s why he wouldn\u2019t let you leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s voice lowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t protecting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat should be written on your grave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark accepted the insult without response.<\/p>\n
Then something sounded outside Rebecca\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
A car.<\/p>\n
Police, I hoped.<\/p>\n
Mark heard it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou called them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was already talking to Sarah when you arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, Mark understood the connection might still be active.<\/p>\n
\u201cSarah?\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
Ramirez shook her head sharply.<\/p>\n
Do not reveal ourselves.<\/p>\n
Mark moved closer to the computer.<\/p>\n
The microphone picked up his breathing.<\/p>\n
Then he said, \u201cIf you can hear me, keep Noah away from Robert.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger surged.<\/p>\n
As if I needed advice from him.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cYour son is afraid of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark did not answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen stop using his safety to make yourself sound useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to keep him alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words landed heavily.<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cWhy would Robert hurt Noah?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Emily taught him the code.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat code?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree, seventeen, eight, twenty-six.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s chair scraped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know about that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat code was between Elaine and me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Sarah\u2019s father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca sounded shaken.<\/p>\n
Mark continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert knew Sarah\u2019s father had helped you. That\u2019s why he moved across from their family years later.\u201d<\/p>\n
My father had not simply been watched.<\/p>\n
Robert had inserted himself into our lives deliberately.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thought George had the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hearing Dad\u2019s name from Mark made me flinch.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cGeorge never saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert didn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe spent years watching an innocent man?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe spent years waiting for George to lead him to something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when George died?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe started watching Emily.\u201d<\/p>\n
My sister closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
The entire shape of our family\u2019s relationship with Robert changed again.<\/p>\n
Every repaired fence.<\/p>\n
Every holiday greeting.<\/p>\n
Every time he had carried groceries into Mom\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n
Surveillance disguised as kindness.<\/p>\n
Mark said Robert eventually concluded Dad had hidden something in the workshop.<\/p>\n
That was why he searched it.<\/p>\n
But he found only the locker key.<\/p>\n
Not the ledger.<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cWhere is the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why come here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wrote the code.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat code led to Elaine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca was silent.<\/p>\n
Mark pressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cElaine knew where the ledger went.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe helped you hide everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe helped me survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSame difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Mark. That difference is the entire story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sirens became audible through the connection.<\/p>\n
Mark heard them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca did not respond.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll tell them I threatened you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll tell them about Pine Ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe motel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca sounded genuinely confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell them everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Footsteps.<\/p>\n
Then a heavy knock.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark raised his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m unarmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cHands where they can see them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n
Commands followed.<\/p>\n
Mark complied.<\/p>\n
No struggle.<\/p>\n
No escape.<\/p>\n
Nothing dramatic.<\/p>\n
After hours of chasing him across states, police arrested Mark while he stood in Rebecca Collins\u2019s living room with both hands raised.<\/p>\n
The connection remained open.<\/p>\n
An officer confirmed Rebecca was unharmed.<\/p>\n
I finally exhaled.<\/p>\n
Then Mark spoke before they took him away.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger wasn\u2019t money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was names, but not the names you thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark looked toward the laptop.<\/p>\n
This time he knew we were listening.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert kept calling it the insurance list.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramirez leaned toward the speaker.<\/p>\n
Mark continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk Daniel Mercer about August twenty-sixth.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart jumped.<\/p>\n
Eight.<\/p>\n
Twenty-six.<\/p>\n
Not only 8:26.<\/p>\n
August 26.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cWhat happened then?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark was already being moved toward the door.<\/p>\n
His answer came from farther away.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert met your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the laptop.<\/p>\n
Dad.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Rebecca sounded as stunned as I felt.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark\u2019s final words reached us just before the door closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour ledger didn\u2019t disappear at Pine Ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge took it twelve days later.\u201d<\/p>\n
The connection ended.<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Emily looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad had it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe must have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
We had searched the workshop.<\/p>\n
Mom\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
The basement lockbox.<\/p>\n
The toolbox.<\/p>\n
The journals.<\/p>\n
Unless we had misunderstood the code from the beginning.<\/p>\n
Three.<\/p>\n
Seventeen.<\/p>\n
Eight.<\/p>\n
Twenty-six.<\/p>\n
March 17.<\/p>\n
8:26.<\/p>\n
Locker 826.<\/p>\n
August 26.<\/p>\n
The numbers were not one clue.<\/p>\n
They were several.<\/p>\n
Rebecca had built redundancy into everything.<\/p>\n
Maybe Dad had done the same.<\/p>\n
Tyler appeared in the doorway with Noah.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
He held Dad\u2019s journal.<\/p>\n
Not one of the August entries.<\/p>\n
A page near the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandma sent pictures of the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to a line written years later.<\/p>\n
Dad had underlined four words.<\/p>\n
MARCH SEVENTEENTH.<\/p>\n
EIGHT TWENTY-SIX.<\/p>\n
Then beneath them:<\/p>\n
SARAH WILL KNOW WHERE.<\/p>\n
I read it three times.<\/p>\n
I did not know.<\/p>\n
Then Emily whispered, \u201cMarch seventeenth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot his.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYours.\u201d<\/p>\n
My birthday.<\/p>\n
March 17.<\/p>\n
Eight twenty-six.<\/p>\n
8:26 a.m.<\/p>\n
The time I was born.<\/p>\n
Dad had turned Rebecca\u2019s code into a private reference to me.<\/p>\n
Sarah will know where.<\/p>\n
I searched my childhood memories.<\/p>\n
Birthday mornings.<\/p>\n
Dad waking me early.<\/p>\n
Fishing trips.<\/p>\n
Pancakes.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered what he gave me on my eighth birthday.<\/p>\n
A small brass compass.<\/p>\n
Inside its lid he had engraved:<\/p>\n
3\/17 \u2014 8:26<\/p>\n
I had not seen it in years.<\/p>\n
But I knew exactly where it was.<\/p>\n
In the old jewelry box at my mother\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
The same house Robert had already searched.<\/p>\n
The video went black, but the secure connection remained open. \u201cRebecca?\u201d Nothing. I leaned toward the laptop as though getting closer to the screen might somehow bring her back. \u201cRebecca, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12467","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\/12467","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=12467"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12487,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12467\/revisions\/12487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}