{"id":16869,"date":"2026-09-22T15:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=16869"},"modified":"2026-09-22T15:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:56:23","slug":"part-18-thomas-went-back-to-the-place-where-voss-first-learned-to-use-secrets-as-weapons-and-we-followed-against-every-warning-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=16869","title":{"rendered":"PART 18 \u2013 Thomas Went Back to the Place Where Voss First Learned to Use Secrets as Weapons, and We Followed Against Every Warning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Victor did not want us to go.<\/p>\n<p>Agent Reyes was even more emphatic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said it over speakerphone from Luna\u2019s dining room while Victor compared coordinates in Thomas\u2019s notebook.<\/p>\n<p>Luna stood beside him.<\/p>\n<p>I stood opposite.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes repeated herself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo civilian involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father is there,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know Thomas left intentionally after receiving Voss\u2019s messages.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat does not authorize you to interfere with an active federal pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not asking permission.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>Not disagreement.<\/p>\n<p>Assessment.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes heard the silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMs. Sterling?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna said, \u201cI understand your position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That meant she had rejected it.<\/p>\n<p>Victor groaned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou two deserve each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Naomi looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is becoming increasingly obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The old range was not a commercial shooting facility.<\/p>\n<p>According to Thomas\u2019s notebook, it had once belonged to a private government contractor outside Colorado Springs. The property closed more than twenty years earlier after ownership changed.<\/p>\n<p>Victor found the corporate trail.<\/p>\n<p>The final owner before abandonment was a shell company.<\/p>\n<p>Its registered agent had worked for Graham Voss.<\/p>\n<p>Agent Reyes immediately dispatched a team.<\/p>\n<p>That should have been enough.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Because Thomas had a head start.<\/p>\n<p>And because one note in his notebook made the location personal.<\/p>\n<p>G.V. \/ T.B. \u2014 first cache.<\/p>\n<p>Victor stared at the phrase.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCache of what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I already knew.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas and Voss had served together.<\/p>\n<p>Before Sterling.<\/p>\n<p>Before Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Before my father ran.<\/p>\n<p>This was where they had first hidden whatever made Voss powerful.<\/p>\n<p>Luna read over my shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe Thomas believes something there can destroy him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOr Voss believes Thomas hid something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor said, \u201cEither way, federal agents can handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n<p>Mom.<\/p>\n<p>I answered.<\/p>\n<p>She did not say hello.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of all the conversations I wanted to have, this was not one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying to find him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe promised you he wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at Luna.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe promised me too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>Mom\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat man apparently learned nothing in twenty-two years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said something similar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re safe?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am surrounded by four armed strangers and one nurse who keeps trying to make me eat pudding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds reasonably secure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBring him back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The anger in her voice shook slightly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to try.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t try.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She took a breath.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then she hung up.<\/p>\n<p>Luna watched me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour mother is formidable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve met her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI underestimated the cane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo did Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We left twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>Not secretly.<\/p>\n<p>That was Victor\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n<p>Federal agents moved ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Samira drove our vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Victor, despite his injury, came with us.<\/p>\n<p>Naomi stayed behind under protection and threatened to resign if Luna attempted to relocate her again.<\/p>\n<p>Derek called during the drive.<\/p>\n<p>He had been moved to a secure hotel with Eleanor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n<p>Luna answered from the front passenger seat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDriving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means somewhere dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not always true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHi, Derek.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdam, please explain to my sister that nearly being murdered twice should discourage fieldwork.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been attempting that for several days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPoorly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCorrect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Derek lowered his voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCeleste told investigators something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna sat straighter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoss kept a physical archive from before he worked for Father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe range.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCeleste only heard him mention it once. He called it his insurance against Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Luna.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAgainst Thomas specifically?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That made the old range even worse.<\/p>\n<p>We reached Colorado Springs shortly before sunset.<\/p>\n<p>Federal vehicles blocked the main road several miles from the property.<\/p>\n<p>Agent Reyes met us herself.<\/p>\n<p>She looked at Luna, then me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI distinctly remember saying no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know whether rich people are uniquely difficult or whether your marriage has become some kind of competitive recklessness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdam is not rich,\u201d Luna said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was not a compliment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes pointed toward a command vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I opened my mouth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed it.<\/p>\n<p>Luna whispered, \u201cShe\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The range sat beyond a stretch of scrubland and pine.<\/p>\n<p>Old satellite images showed several buildings.<\/p>\n<p>Storage shed.<\/p>\n<p>Administration office.<\/p>\n<p>Underground bunker.<\/p>\n<p>Target lanes carved into the hillside.<\/p>\n<p>The property had no active utilities.<\/p>\n<p>No registered residents.<\/p>\n<p>Thermal imaging detected one heat source near the bunker.<\/p>\n<p>One.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould be,\u201d Reyes said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoss?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPossibly too close to distinguish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The tactical team moved.<\/p>\n<p>We waited.<\/p>\n<p>Five minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Ten.<\/p>\n<p>Fifteen.<\/p>\n<p>Then radio chatter changed.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She listened.<\/p>\n<p>Then swore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Luna asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDecoy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The heat source was a portable heater attached to a timer.<\/p>\n<p>No people.<\/p>\n<p>But the bunker door had recently been opened.<\/p>\n<p>The team found fresh tire tracks leading away through a secondary service road.<\/p>\n<p>Voss\u2014or Thomas\u2014had anticipated us.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes ordered units toward the service road.<\/p>\n<p>Victor studied the old site map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s another structure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes looked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot on the current survey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt appears on a 1998 plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed toward the hillside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSubsurface storage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes called the tactical team.<\/p>\n<p>Five minutes later, they found the entrance.<\/p>\n<p>The steel hatch was unlocked.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were empty shelves.<\/p>\n<p>Dust.<\/p>\n<p>Old military-style cases.<\/p>\n<p>And one chair.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had been sitting there recently.<\/p>\n<p>On the wall, written in chalk, were two words.<\/p>\n<p>HELLO, TOM.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew Thomas would come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna touched my arm.<\/p>\n<p>Then an agent emerged carrying a box.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFound this inside.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes opened it.<\/p>\n<p>Photographs.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds.<\/p>\n<p>People Voss had watched.<\/p>\n<p>Politicians.<\/p>\n<p>Executives.<\/p>\n<p>Police officers.<\/p>\n<p>Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Derek.<\/p>\n<p>Luna.<\/p>\n<p>My family.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>On the bottom sat an old cassette.<\/p>\n<p>A label in Thomas\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>Kandahar \u2014 Voss.<\/p>\n<p>My father had been here before.<\/p>\n<p>And he had hidden evidence against Voss decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes held the cassette.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to process this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor examined the box.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a false bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He was right.<\/p>\n<p>Beneath the photographs was a folded map.<\/p>\n<p>Marked route.<\/p>\n<p>An X.<\/p>\n<p>And another note.<\/p>\n<p>If Graham comes back, he\u2019ll go home.<\/p>\n<p>No address.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHome meaning?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Thomas\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t mean Voss\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Voss doesn\u2019t think of houses as home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna understood before I finished.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInformation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where did Voss keep the thing he trusted most?<\/p>\n<p>The first cache.<\/p>\n<p>The original secrets.<\/p>\n<p>Victor checked the map.<\/p>\n<p>The X was near an abandoned mining settlement west of the range.<\/p>\n<p>Federal units moved immediately.<\/p>\n<p>This time Reyes forced us to remain behind.<\/p>\n<p>We waited inside the command vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Luna sat across from me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat if Thomas isn\u2019t there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe will be somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was not what I meant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She reached across.<\/p>\n<p>Took my hand.<\/p>\n<p>I looked down.<\/p>\n<p>Her wedding ring caught the fluorescent light.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou still wearing that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou put it back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m still married.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContractually.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She did not look away.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt means if Voss vanished tonight and every legal problem disappeared tomorrow, I would still want to discuss rewriting the contract.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart sped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat kind of revision?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne without an expiration date.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For several seconds, the range, the agents, Voss, Thomas\u2014everything receded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou realize we have terrible timing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHistorically bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to require clearer language later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re a copywriter. Draft it yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I smiled.<\/p>\n<p>Then an explosion rolled across the distant hills.<\/p>\n<p>The command vehicle windows shook.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes\u2019s radio erupted.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone moved at once.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She listened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMine entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes held up a hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another burst of radio traffic.<\/p>\n<p>One suspect vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Gunfire.<\/p>\n<p>One injured.<\/p>\n<p>Then a name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBennett located.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I was already at the door.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes blocked me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNear the mine entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Voss?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas Thomas shot?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes listened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Injured in the blast. Conscious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My knees almost failed.<\/p>\n<p>Luna grabbed my arm.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says Voss is inside the mine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor looked at the map.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly one entrance?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOld mines never have one entrance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had gone inside after Voss.<\/p>\n<p>A tactical medic brought him out twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>Blood covered one side of his face from a cut near the temple.<\/p>\n<p>I crossed the road before anyone stopped me.<\/p>\n<p>He saw me.<\/p>\n<p>His expression was not relieved.<\/p>\n<p>It was guilty.<\/p>\n<p>That made me angrier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou promised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou left Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou turned your phone off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop saying you know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to hit him.<\/p>\n<p>Instead I hugged him.<\/p>\n<p>Hard.<\/p>\n<p>For one second, he froze.<\/p>\n<p>Then his arms wrapped around me.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-two years collapsed into something I could not name.<\/p>\n<p>Not forgiveness.<\/p>\n<p>Not yet.<\/p>\n<p>But something alive.<\/p>\n<p>When we separated, I shoved him once in the shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOw.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna approached.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou came.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou sound surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was hoping Adam married someone sensible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have met us both.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes arrived.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened inside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas looked toward the mine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoss wanted the Kandahar recording.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cassette?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s on it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first person he killed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe killed someone in Afghanistan?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot combat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were intelligence contractors attached to a unit. A local interpreter discovered Voss selling information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSelling what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNames.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luna understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInformants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe sold identities?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo whoever paid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe interpreter confronted him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas looked toward the hills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoss killed him and staged it as insurgent violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you report it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoss had leverage on an officer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The beginning.<\/p>\n<p>Secrets protecting secrets.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI recorded him admitting enough to expose it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cassette.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy not release it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat stopped you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe officer threatened to expose classified operations and put other people at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you hid it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Voss knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knew I had something. Not where.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe followed the trail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes said, \u201cWhy return?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I believed the recording could finally put him away regardless of what happened with Sterling.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should have told us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead you went alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reyes looked disgusted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m beginning to understand your son.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>Then gunfire sounded from the mine.<\/p>\n<p>Agents shouted.<\/p>\n<p>Lights swung.<\/p>\n<p>A figure appeared near a ventilation cut higher on the slope.<\/p>\n<p>Running.<\/p>\n<p>Voss.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas saw him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s headed for the ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Federal agents pursued.<\/p>\n<p>Voss disappeared among the rocks.<\/p>\n<p>A helicopter spotlight swept over the hillside.<\/p>\n<p>For several minutes, nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Then a radio message.<\/p>\n<p>Suspect reached vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>A truck engine roared somewhere beyond the ridge.<\/p>\n<p>Reyes swore.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Voss had escaped.<\/p>\n<p>But this time he had left something behind.<\/p>\n<p>Near the ventilation shaft, agents found a satchel.<\/p>\n<p>Inside were ammunition, cash, passports, and a folder.<\/p>\n<p>The folder contained one page.<\/p>\n<p>A list.<\/p>\n<p>Names.<\/p>\n<p>Several crossed out.<\/p>\n<p>Naomi.<\/p>\n<p>Celeste.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Others we did not recognize.<\/p>\n<p>Luna\u2019s name remained uncrossed.<\/p>\n<p>So did mine.<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom was one final name.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline Bennett.<\/p>\n<p>My mother.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=16870\">Click here to continue reading: PART 19: The Name at the Bottom of Voss\u2019s List Sent Us Back to Texas, Where My Mother Refused to Be Used as Leverage Again<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Victor did not want us to go. Agent Reyes was even more emphatic. \u201cNo.\u201d She said it over speakerphone from Luna\u2019s dining room while Victor compared coordinates in Thomas\u2019s notebook. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16869","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\/16869","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=16869"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16895,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16869\/revisions\/16895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}