{"id":18883,"date":"2026-09-24T14:57:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18883"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:57:21","slug":"part-16-harold-cole-returned-from-thirty-five-years-of-hiding-and-the-archive-proved-which-death-started-the-entire-chain-of-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18883","title":{"rendered":"PART 16 \u2013 Harold Cole Returned From Thirty-Five Years of Hiding, and the Archive Proved Which Death Started the Entire Chain of Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Harriet crossed the chapel before anyone could stop her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stood at the bottom of the hidden stairs, one hand gripping the railing.<\/p>\n<p>Age had changed him completely.<\/p>\n<p>But Harriet knew him.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever thirty-five years had done, she knew.<\/p>\n<p>She descended one step.<\/p>\n<p>Then another.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are alive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou let me think you were dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His expression broke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She slapped him.<\/p>\n<p>The sound echoed beneath the ruined chapel.<\/p>\n<p>Nobody interfered.<\/p>\n<p>Harold accepted it.<\/p>\n<p>Harriet struck his chest once with both hands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou coward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou left me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou knew what I had done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was trying to keep them from finding the registry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she owned you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harriet turned.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca still held the gun.<\/p>\n<p>But her attention had shifted entirely to Harold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo should half the people in this room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca smiled faintly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou kept the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI protected it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret moved beside me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHarold, how did you get inside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe drainage system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have been here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou lived under St. Agnes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNearby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy stay hidden?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause dead men are difficult to subpoena and harder to threaten.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cole\u2014Michael\u2014arrived with officers.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen had been secured.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel and Marcus followed.<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked at Marcus.<\/p>\n<p>Recognition appeared instantly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus froze.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you call me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold stepped forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSamuel Cole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harriet stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed toward himself and Harriet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCole was the placement surname Rebecca used.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou named me Samuel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why Marcus?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe changed it after I copied your birth file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marcus looked exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what is real?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour blood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold pointed toward Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe is your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then toward the corridor where Stephen had been arrested.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStephen is your father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least that is settled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s expression softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel was born to a woman named Rosa Alvarez.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel went still.<\/p>\n<p>A name.<\/p>\n<p>Finally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho was she?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA nursing student.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs she alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she give me up?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word landed heavily.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was told you died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked down.<\/p>\n<p>The same story.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow old was she?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNineteen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere was she from?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSanta Fe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she search?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen had raised him.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca had stolen him.<\/p>\n<p>His mother had searched.<\/p>\n<p>He covered his face briefly.<\/p>\n<p>Marcus stood beside him.<\/p>\n<p>Not touching.<\/p>\n<p>Simply present.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca raised the gun toward Harold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have talked enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cole aimed at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrop it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She ignored him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you put in the archive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy files?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDouglas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStephen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMargaret?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked almost relieved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen it ends here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold smiled sadly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt ended years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe archive copied itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stared.<\/p>\n<p>Harold explained.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur never trusted a single physical location.<\/p>\n<p>Once the system became digital, encrypted copies were created.<\/p>\n<p>The chapel archive was not the only repository.<\/p>\n<p>It was the authorization center.<\/p>\n<p>Opening it activated distribution.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>I had opened it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Harold answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did what Arthur intended.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The evidence had begun transferring automatically to multiple legal custodians.<\/p>\n<p>Courts.<\/p>\n<p>Attorneys.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators.<\/p>\n<p>Not the public.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had designed it to preserve evidence while protecting victims.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s leverage was disappearing.<\/p>\n<p>She fired.<\/p>\n<p>Cole shot almost simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s bullet struck Harold.<\/p>\n<p>Cole\u2019s hit Rebecca in the leg.<\/p>\n<p>She collapsed.<\/p>\n<p>Harriet screamed.<\/p>\n<p>I ran to Harold.<\/p>\n<p>Blood spread across his shirt.<\/p>\n<p>Priya called for medics.<\/p>\n<p>Harold grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArchive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForget it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cListen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His eyes were sharp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe first file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat first file?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore the children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does it contain?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe death that started everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>She seemed confused.<\/p>\n<p>Harold coughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur did not build St. Agnes because of adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGuilt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked toward Cole.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis wife.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n<p>I had heard almost nothing about her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened to her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur killed her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cole stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother died in an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s breathing weakened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur caused it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was driving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrunk?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was running from Rebecca\u2019s mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harriet closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>The story went farther back.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had been involved with Harriet and Rebecca\u2019s mother, Evelyn Cole, while married.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn became pregnant with Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur refused to leave his wife.<\/p>\n<p>An argument followed.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur drove away with his wife in the car.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn followed.<\/p>\n<p>On a wet road, Arthur lost control.<\/p>\n<p>His wife died.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur survived.<\/p>\n<p>The official report called it weather.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur knew his choices caused the chase.<\/p>\n<p>He paid Evelyn to disappear.<\/p>\n<p>Then spent years trying to turn guilt into charity.<\/p>\n<p>St. Agnes began afterward.<\/p>\n<p>A private program for mothers in crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Something meant to compensate for a death.<\/p>\n<p>Instead it became a machine for creating more grief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is the first file?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Harold nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur\u2019s confession.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca laughed from the floor.<\/p>\n<p>Even wounded, she laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is your saint.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one called him a saint.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Michael continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe caused my mother\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe abandoned you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe hid you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe also tried to repair damage after helping create it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou forgive him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer surprised her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do not need to forgive him to refuse becoming him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Medics entered.<\/p>\n<p>They treated Harold first.<\/p>\n<p>Then Rebecca.<\/p>\n<p>She was handcuffed to the stretcher.<\/p>\n<p>Harriet stood beside Harold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are not disappearing again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He managed a weak smile.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I survive, I suppose I have run out of excuses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She took his hand.<\/p>\n<p>The archive chamber opened fully.<\/p>\n<p>Rows of sealed cabinets lined the walls.<\/p>\n<p>A central terminal displayed a list.<\/p>\n<p>RECOVERY INDEX.<\/p>\n<p>Seventy-five numbered entries.<\/p>\n<p>Then hundreds of later cases.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>Eighteen years.<\/p>\n<p>I found my number.<\/p>\n<p>My original name.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel Vale.<\/p>\n<p>Status: SAFE.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at that word.<\/p>\n<p>Safe.<\/p>\n<p>Was I?<\/p>\n<p>Raymond and Margaret had loved me.<\/p>\n<p>That was true.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor had wanted me.<\/p>\n<p>Also true.<\/p>\n<p>I had been stolen.<\/p>\n<p>True.<\/p>\n<p>My adoptive parents had suspected enough to carry guilt.<\/p>\n<p>True.<\/p>\n<p>No single truth canceled another.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret stood behind me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wrote SAFE after your tenth birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow often?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce or twice a year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile I was growing up?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Dad think you were doing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVisiting Arthur\u2019s foundation offices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore lies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She did not defend them.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>I opened the entry.<\/p>\n<p>My file contained photographs.<\/p>\n<p>School pictures.<\/p>\n<p>Birthday pictures.<\/p>\n<p>Medical notes.<\/p>\n<p>Then letters.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor\u2019s letters.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens.<\/p>\n<p>She had written to me.<\/p>\n<p>Every year.<\/p>\n<p>Some were returned.<\/p>\n<p>Some intercepted.<\/p>\n<p>Some never mailed.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret had collected copies.<\/p>\n<p>I opened one.<\/p>\n<p>Grant was written above Gabriel in pencil.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n<p>She had known exactly who each letter belonged to.<\/p>\n<p>My anger returned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou had these.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have given them to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf Stephen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf losing you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had already lost Celeste. I had convinced myself I could not survive watching you choose Eleanor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>There it was.<\/p>\n<p>Not strategy.<\/p>\n<p>Not danger.<\/p>\n<p>Not noble protection.<\/p>\n<p>Human selfishness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would not have stopped loving you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did not trust me enough to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI failed you there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For once, no explanation followed.<\/p>\n<p>No justification.<\/p>\n<p>I turned back to the archive.<\/p>\n<p>Another file appeared beneath mine.<\/p>\n<p>ELEANOR VALE\u2014RECOVERY CONTACT.<\/p>\n<p>I opened it.<\/p>\n<p>The timeline showed Margaret found Eleanor in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>Exactly as she had admitted.<\/p>\n<p>But another entry appeared earlier.<\/p>\n<p>1991.<\/p>\n<p>CONTACT INITIATED BY R.C.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca Cole.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen had been right.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor knew I was alive years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Then I saw a second note.<\/p>\n<p>CONTACT TERMINATED AFTER THREAT TO CHILD.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat child?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret leaned closer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never saw this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose child?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The file contained a photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor in 1991.<\/p>\n<p>Standing outside an apartment.<\/p>\n<p>Beside her was a little boy.<\/p>\n<p>About four.<\/p>\n<p>Not me.<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret whispered, \u201cI do not know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael came closer.<\/p>\n<p>His face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou recognize him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy foster brother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Arthur hid me, I was placed with a family under another name. They had another boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe boy in this picture?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was his name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy was he with Eleanor?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold, being lifted onto a stretcher, heard us.<\/p>\n<p>He turned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael held up the photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s face went white.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold looked at Eleanor\u2019s file.<\/p>\n<p>Then at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat boy is Child Seventy-Six.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the index.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are only seventy-five.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Arthur erased him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s voice became urgent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClose the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClose it now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Seventy-Six was never supposed to be found.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca began laughing again from her stretcher.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret turned toward her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is funny?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca looked directly at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think Stephen was the dangerous father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She smiled through the pain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have not met Seventy-Six.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked back at Harold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold struggled against the paramedics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrant, close the system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cName him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Then he said it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas Pierce.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Harold Pierce\u2019s son.<\/p>\n<p>The doctor who falsified deaths.<\/p>\n<p>The man whose family had never appeared anywhere in the records.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does Thomas have to do with Eleanor?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold\u2019s eyes filled with fear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was the child Rebecca used to keep Eleanor from coming for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe threatened him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told Eleanor Thomas was you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room went silent.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor had spent years believing another boy was her stolen son.<\/p>\n<p>A false Grant.<\/p>\n<p>A decoy child.<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Thomas know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harold closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe knows everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody answered.<\/p>\n<p>Then the archive terminal beeped.<\/p>\n<p>A new message appeared.<\/p>\n<p>REMOTE ACCESS ACCEPTED.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had entered the system from outside St. Agnes.<\/p>\n<p>A username appeared.<\/p>\n<p>TPIERCE.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret whispered, \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Files began disappearing from the screen.<\/p>\n<p>One after another.<\/p>\n<p>The recovery archive was being attacked.<\/p>\n<p>Cole reached for the terminal.<\/p>\n<p>Harold shouted from the stretcher.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDisconnect it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I pulled the network cable.<\/p>\n<p>The screen went black.<\/p>\n<p>Too late.<\/p>\n<p>My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n<p>A message from an unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>One photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Eleanor, alone in her hospital room.<\/p>\n<p>A man stood behind her.<\/p>\n<p>His face matched the little boy from 1991, aged by thirty-five years.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Pierce.<\/p>\n<p>Below the image was a message.<\/p>\n<p>SHE CHOSE YOU AFTER RAISING ME AS HER SON.<\/p>\n<p>NOW SHE GETS TO CHOOSE AGAIN.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=18884\">Click here to continue reading: PART 17: Thomas Pierce Took Eleanor From the Hospital, and His First Demand Forced Me to Face the Life He Believed I Stole<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harriet crossed the chapel before anyone could stop her. \u201cHarold.\u201d He stood at the bottom of the hidden stairs, one hand gripping the railing. Age had changed him completely. But &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18883","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\/18883","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=18883"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18923,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18883\/revisions\/18923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}