Agent Bell left us with two instructions.<\/p>\n
Do not go home alone.<\/p>\n
Do not alter our routine more than necessary.<\/p>\n
My father disliked both.<\/p>\n
"They contradict each other."<\/p>\n
Margaret closed her briefcase. "No. One concerns security. The other concerns whoever is watching."<\/p>\n
Dad looked toward the dark windows of my office.<\/p>\n
"If someone has been following Emily, her routine is already compromised."<\/p>\n
"Which is why Bell doesn't want us improvising."<\/p>\n
"I've spent thirty-two years\u2014"<\/p>\n
"Investigating fraud for the state. Not conducting federal surveillance operations."<\/p>\n
Dad's jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
I stepped between them before their argument acquired footnotes.<\/p>\n
"I'm staying with you tonight."<\/p>\n
That ended it.<\/p>\n
At 12:14 a.m., building security escorted us to Dad's car.<\/p>\n
I expected to feel watched.<\/p>\n
Instead, the street looked painfully ordinary.<\/p>\n
A delivery cyclist passed beneath a red light. A couple argued softly beside a taxi. Rainwater gathered around the curb. A sanitation truck groaned somewhere downtown.<\/p>\n
Danger would have been easier if it looked like danger.<\/p>\n
We reached Brooklyn without incident.<\/p>\n
Dad checked the block twice before pulling into his garage.<\/p>\n
Inside, he locked the door and immediately opened his laptop.<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
"No what?"<\/p>\n
"No investigation."<\/p>\n
"I'm checking email."<\/p>\n
"You're terrible at lying."<\/p>\n
"I'm retired. My standards have relaxed."<\/p>\n
Despite everything, I smiled.<\/p>\n
Then my phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Margaret.<\/p>\n
She had received an encrypted file from Agent Bell containing images federal investigators wanted me to review.<\/p>\n
No commentary.<\/p>\n
No names.<\/p>\n
Only a request that I identify anything familiar.<\/p>\n
Dad sat beside me at the kitchen table.<\/p>\n
The first photograph showed me leaving the courthouse after the divorce.<\/p>\n
Timestamp: 3:19 p.m.<\/p>\n
Taken from across the street.<\/p>\n
The second showed me entering Dad's brownstone later that afternoon.<\/p>\n
My skin tightened.<\/p>\n
The third showed my office building the next morning.<\/p>\n
The fourth showed Daniel outside the lobby after security removed him.<\/p>\n
The fifth showed me and Margaret leaving for the federal meeting.<\/p>\n
The sixth showed my apartment entrance.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
"Someone knew where I lived."<\/p>\n
Dad's expression was hard.<\/p>\n
"Daniel knew."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"But these aren't necessarily his."<\/p>\n
I continued.<\/p>\n
Another photograph.<\/p>\n
Me entering Hayes & Rowe.<\/p>\n
Another.<\/p>\n
Dad's car.<\/p>\n
Another.<\/p>\n
Grace leaving work.<\/p>\n
"Grace?"<\/p>\n
Dad leaned closer.<\/p>\n
The next showed Leonard Pike.<\/p>\n
Then Calvin Moore.<\/p>\n
Then Elaine Rowe.<\/p>\n
"This isn't just me."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Whoever had taken the photographs had been tracking nearly everyone connected to Westbridge.<\/p>\n
I enlarged the courthouse image.<\/p>\n
Nothing obvious.<\/p>\n
People.<\/p>\n
Traffic.<\/p>\n
Reflections.<\/p>\n
Then Dad touched the screen.<\/p>\n
"Go back."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"The office photograph."<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
"Zoom the glass."<\/p>\n
The image had been taken through the window of a coffee shop opposite Hayes & Rowe.<\/p>\n
In the reflection, behind the photographer, stood another man.<\/p>\n
Partial face.<\/p>\n
Gray jacket.<\/p>\n
Dark hair.<\/p>\n
Dad stared.<\/p>\n
"You know him."<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
"Dad."<\/p>\n
"Maybe."<\/p>\n
"Who?"<\/p>\n
He enlarged the reflection again.<\/p>\n
"Samuel Doran."<\/p>\n
The name meant nothing to me.<\/p>\n
"Who is he?"<\/p>\n
"Former investigator."<\/p>\n
"Police?"<\/p>\n
"State financial enforcement."<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
"You worked with him?"<\/p>\n
"Years ago."<\/p>\n
"Good investigator?"<\/p>\n
"Very."<\/p>\n
"Then why does your face look like that?"<\/p>\n
Dad closed the laptop halfway.<\/p>\n
"Because Sam was fired."<\/p>\n
"For what?"<\/p>\n
"Improper access to confidential records. Undisclosed relationships with subjects of investigations. Taking money."<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
"He was corrupt."<\/p>\n
"He was never criminally convicted."<\/p>\n
"That's not what I asked."<\/p>\n
Dad looked tired.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"How do you know it's him?"<\/p>\n
"I don't. The reflection resembles him."<\/p>\n
I called Margaret.<\/p>\n
She contacted Bell immediately.<\/p>\n
Twenty-three minutes later, Bell called Dad directly.<\/p>\n
He asked him to describe Doran.<\/p>\n
Dad did.<\/p>\n
Bell asked about known associates.<\/p>\n
Dad named several.<\/p>\n
Then Bell asked a question that made my father go quiet.<\/p>\n
"When did you last speak to him?"<\/p>\n
Dad's eyes shifted toward me.<\/p>\n
"About six years ago."<\/p>\n
Bell asked something else I couldn't hear.<\/p>\n
Dad answered, "Yes."<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
"Once."<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
Bell continued.<\/p>\n
Dad rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n
"Yes, Daniel was there."<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
When the call ended, I didn't give Dad time to evade me.<\/p>\n
"Explain."<\/p>\n
He looked at the dark screen.<\/p>\n
"Six years ago, Daniel asked me for help checking a potential business partner."<\/p>\n
"Who?"<\/p>\n
"He didn't give me a name at first."<\/p>\n
"And you called Doran."<\/p>\n
"I asked whether he still knew anyone who could run public background information."<\/p>\n
"After he'd been fired?"<\/p>\n
"I made a bad judgment."<\/p>\n
That admission from my father carried weight.<\/p>\n
"Did Daniel meet him?"<\/p>\n
"Once."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"At my house."<\/p>\n
I stared around the kitchen.<\/p>\n
This house.<\/p>\n
This table.<\/p>\n
Dad continued.<\/p>\n
"Daniel came early for dinner. Doran stopped by with information. They spoke maybe fifteen minutes."<\/p>\n
"About whom?"<\/p>\n
"I don't remember."<\/p>\n
"Try."<\/p>\n
Dad closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
"Someone connected to a development project."<\/p>\n
Westbridge.<\/p>\n
"Eric?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Marcus?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
I felt anger rise.<\/p>\n
"How did you never tell me this?"<\/p>\n
"Because until tonight, it meant nothing."<\/p>\n
"Daniel met a corrupt former financial investigator through you."<\/p>\n
Dad flinched.<\/p>\n
I regretted the cruelty immediately.<\/p>\n
Not the fact.<\/p>\n
The delivery.<\/p>\n
He looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
The word came quietly.<\/p>\n
"I introduced them."<\/p>\n
I sat.<\/p>\n
For once, neither of us knew what to say.<\/p>\n
At 1:18, Bell called again.<\/p>\n
They had compared the reflection with known photographs.<\/p>\n
Not definitive.<\/p>\n
Strong resemblance.<\/p>\n
Doran's current location was unknown.<\/p>\n
His last known consulting company had dissolved two years earlier.<\/p>\n
His phone was inactive.<\/p>\n
His apartment lease ended six months ago.<\/p>\n
Another man who seemed to have disappeared.<\/p>\n
Except now I knew disappearance could mean many things.<\/p>\n
At 1:46, Margaret sent a message.<\/p>\n
Do not contact Daniel about Doran.<\/p>\n
I had no intention of doing so.<\/p>\n
At 2:03, Daniel contacted me.<\/p>\n
I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
You need to stop talking to federal agents.<\/p>\n
Dad saw it.<\/p>\n
Neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Another message.<\/p>\n
They will make you think you are helping yourself.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
You don't understand who you're trusting.<\/p>\n
I showed Dad.<\/p>\n
He photographed the messages with his own phone.<\/p>\n
At 2:06:<\/p>\n
Ask your father about Sam.<\/p>\n
The kitchen went silent.<\/p>\n
Dad sat very slowly.<\/p>\n
Daniel knew.<\/p>\n
Not merely that investigators had found photographs.<\/p>\n
He knew Dad had identified Samuel Doran.<\/p>\n
That information had existed for less than two hours.<\/p>\n
Only a handful of people knew.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
Dad.<\/p>\n
Margaret.<\/p>\n
Bell.<\/p>\n
Federal investigators.<\/p>\n
I looked at Dad.<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
He was already calling Bell.<\/p>\n
Bell's reaction was immediate.<\/p>\n
"Do not respond."<\/p>\n
Margaret joined the call.<\/p>\n
The federal team began reviewing who had access to the identification.<\/p>\n
I listened while professionals used calm language around an alarming possibility.<\/p>\n
Leak.<\/p>\n
Compromise.<\/p>\n
Unauthorized disclosure.<\/p>\n
Dad said, "If Daniel knows what we discussed with Bell, someone is feeding him current information."<\/p>\n
Bell answered, "That's one possibility."<\/p>\n
"What's another?"<\/p>\n
"He's making an educated guess."<\/p>\n
Dad almost laughed.<\/p>\n
"He named Sam."<\/p>\n
Bell had no response to that.<\/p>\n
At 2:34, Daniel sent another message.<\/p>\n
Sam wasn't the one you should be worried about.<\/p>\n
Then nothing.<\/p>\n
No explanation.<\/p>\n
No demand.<\/p>\n
Just silence.<\/p>\n
I barely slept.<\/p>\n
At 6:50, Bell arrived at Dad's house with another agent.<\/p>\n
He collected our phones temporarily for examination and gave us replacements.<\/p>\n
Dad hated surrendering his device.<\/p>\n
"You'll survive," I told him.<\/p>\n
"I have passwords in there."<\/p>\n
"That's horrifying."<\/p>\n
"They're coded."<\/p>\n
"That's more horrifying."<\/p>\n
Bell almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Then he became serious.<\/p>\n
"We located Samuel Doran."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"New Jersey."<\/p>\n
"Alive?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Relief mixed with dread.<\/p>\n
"Did he take the photographs?"<\/p>\n
"We're determining that."<\/p>\n
Dad asked, "Did he work for Daniel?"<\/p>\n
Bell looked at him.<\/p>\n
"Doran has performed investigative services for several private clients."<\/p>\n
"Daniel?"<\/p>\n
Bell paused.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
The word landed heavily.<\/p>\n
"For how long?" I asked.<\/p>\n
"At least four years."<\/p>\n
Four years.<\/p>\n
Before the divorce.<\/p>\n
Before I knew about Vanessa.<\/p>\n
During the period Westbridge money moved.<\/p>\n
"What was he investigating?"<\/p>\n
"We don't know all assignments."<\/p>\n
Dad said, "But some involved Emily."<\/p>\n
Bell looked at me.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
I felt exposed again.<\/p>\n
"What did he collect?"<\/p>\n
"Travel. Business relationships. Corporate records. Public filings."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"We're still interviewing him."<\/p>\n
"Is he cooperating?"<\/p>\n
Bell's expression suggested complicated.<\/p>\n
"Partially."<\/p>\n
Margaret arrived twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n
Bell then gave us another piece.<\/p>\n
Doran admitted Daniel hired him during the marriage to monitor potential evidence of hidden assets.<\/p>\n
I laughed once.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
The accusation again.<\/p>\n
Everything returned to hidden assets.<\/p>\n
Except Doran claimed Daniel wasn't actually searching for money I had concealed.<\/p>\n
He was searching for ways to make ordinary financial behavior look suspicious.<\/p>\n
"He wanted patterns," Bell said.<\/p>\n
"What kind?"<\/p>\n
"Transfers between business accounts. Investments. Large payments. Anything that could be framed without context."<\/p>\n
Margaret said, "Divorce leverage."<\/p>\n
"Potentially."<\/p>\n
Dad asked, "What about the recent surveillance?"<\/p>\n
Bell's face hardened.<\/p>\n
"Doran denies conducting it."<\/p>\n
"Believe him?"<\/p>\n
"We verify."<\/p>\n
"Who hired whoever did?"<\/p>\n
"Unknown."<\/p>\n
At 8:17, Bell received a call.<\/p>\n
He stepped into the hallway.<\/p>\n
When he returned, his expression had changed.<\/p>\n
"We need to move."<\/p>\n
"What happened?"<\/p>\n
"Marcus Vale was located."<\/p>\n
"Where?"<\/p>\n
"A motel outside Newark."<\/p>\n
"Alive?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Then what's wrong?"<\/p>\n
Bell picked up his folder.<\/p>\n
"He was trying to leave under another name."<\/p>\n
Dad asked, "Did he say why?"<\/p>\n
Bell looked at me.<\/p>\n
"According to the agents with him, Marcus says Daniel warned him last night that federal investigators had the Renner recording."<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
The recording had been transferred only hours earlier.<\/p>\n
Daniel should not have known it existed.<\/p>\n
Not unless someone told him.<\/p>\n
Bell left immediately.<\/p>\n
Margaret remained behind.<\/p>\n
Dad stood at the kitchen window.<\/p>\n
I looked at Daniel's final message.<\/p>\n
Sam wasn't the one you should be worried about.<\/p>\n
For once, I believed him.<\/p>\n
Because the most frightening person in the case was no longer the disgraced investigator who had followed people for money.<\/p>\n
It was whoever stood close enough to the investigation to tell Daniel what federal agents learned almost as soon as they learned it.<\/p>\n
Agent Bell left us with two instructions. Do not go home alone. Do not alter our routine more than necessary. My father disliked both. "They contradict each other." Margaret closed … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15431","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\/15431","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=15431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15459,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15431\/revisions\/15459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}