{"id":24545,"date":"2026-09-28T21:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24545"},"modified":"2026-09-28T21:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:45:11","slug":"part-27-nicholas-avery-had-learned-he-was-arthur-reeds-son-only-two-days-earlier-and-the-choice-arthur-offered-him-turned-every-brother-against-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24545","title":{"rendered":"PART 27 \u2013 Nicholas Avery Had Learned He Was Arthur Reed\u2019s Son Only Two Days Earlier, and the Choice Arthur Offered Him Turned Every Brother Against Him"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nicholas looked older than the teacher I remembered.<\/p>\n<p>Of course he did.<\/p>\n<p>More gray.<\/p>\n<p>Glasses gone.<\/p>\n<p>Face thinner.<\/p>\n<p>But I knew him immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Avery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His gun shifted slightly.<\/p>\n<p>Recognition crossed his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was worse.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou remember me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were one of my best students.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carl glanced at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris called:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNicholas, lower the weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou brought police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey tend to come when people fire guns in cemeteries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn&#39;t shooting at you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas pointed toward the woods.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou shot at Arthur?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI missed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A ninety-four-year-old man disappearing through woods seemed unlikely.<\/p>\n<p>Unless someone helped.<\/p>\n<p>Michael Horne.<\/p>\n<p>Or others.<\/p>\n<p>Harris kept his weapon trained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPut the gun down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Then did.<\/p>\n<p>Officers moved in.<\/p>\n<p>Handcuffed him.<\/p>\n<p>He did not resist.<\/p>\n<p>I stood slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy are you here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas looked at Mom\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause she knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you find out?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo days ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur told you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Helen Mercer stole my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you believe him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor about six hours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI found letters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHidden?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInside an old book she gave me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course.<\/p>\n<p>Mom had turned every sentimental object into an archive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did the letters say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Arthur Reed was my biological father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat my mother was a woman named Susan Avery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not the registry\u2019s original surname? Could have been placement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas she your adoptive mother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy biological mother too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That changed the assumptions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why were you Case Four?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Arthur wanted me erased.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis wife.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur was married when Nicholas was born.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cScandal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Mom didn\u2019t steal you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe kept Arthur from placing you somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mother wanted me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what did Helen do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChanged records so Arthur believed I had been moved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere were you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Susan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour mother raised you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Mom hid you in plain sight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe gave Susan enough evidence to keep Arthur away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur\u2019s letters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThreats?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy become Nicholas Avery openly?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Avery was Susan\u2019s family name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That made sense.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had known Case Four became Nicholas eventually? Maybe later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen how did Arthur find you now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas looked toward Caroline.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStorage unit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The stolen Grace file?<\/p>\n<p>No.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline\u2019s archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Someone had broken into unit 114 before us.<\/p>\n<p>They removed Grace\u2019s true-identity folder.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe they also photographed indexes.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline looked sick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe found cross-references.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Samuel resurfaced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The old men\u2019s collapses had activated each other&#39;s networks.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had spent decades hidden.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel\u2019s exposure forced him to clean up his own past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat choice did he offer you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas stared at the photograph of the three boys.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoin him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carl frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt ninety-four?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s dying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEveryone is dying,\u201d Nicholas said. \u201cArthur just thinks it makes him important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what did he want you to join?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReed Family Foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris asked:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLegitimate foundation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMostly isn&#39;t comforting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt owns legal firms, trusts, consulting companies, private investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJonathan managed legal cover.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter managed coercion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat role were you offered?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPublic face.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because Nicholas had no criminal record.<\/p>\n<p>Respected academic.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur\u2019s hidden son could inherit the clean portion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he ask you to protect Jonathan and Peter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd destroy evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mother again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything linking him to Case One and the M-list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you give him anything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why bring you to the cemetery?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas looked at Mom\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted to show me where the registry was supposedly buried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe believed Dad\u2019s lie?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he dug and found this photograph instead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho put it there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe planted it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore I arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted me to shoot Peter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeter was supposed to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut Peter is in custody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur expected his lawyers to get him temporary hospital transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Arthur changed plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe brought me here anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProve I could act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy shooting him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy shooting whoever came to retrieve the photo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach turned.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur created loyalty through violence.<\/p>\n<p>Samuel through ownership.<\/p>\n<p>Two old men.<\/p>\n<p>Two systems.<\/p>\n<p>Same premise: children belonged to the person who shaped their fear.<\/p>\n<p>Harris asked:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you fire?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur had a second man in the trees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael Horne?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe aimed at Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin chilled.<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI fired above him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you were protecting me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Helen protected my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was enough for him.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe not legally.<\/p>\n<p>But personally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did Arthur go?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVehicle waiting beyond north fence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDescription?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas gave it.<\/p>\n<p>Harris transmitted.<\/p>\n<p>State patrol units moved.<\/p>\n<p>Then Nicholas looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur said your mother kept a list separate from the registry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat list?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChildren returned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReturned to whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir original families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were returns?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur said five.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy aren&#39;t they in the registry?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Samuel and Arthur considered them failures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Astonishing.<\/p>\n<p>Some children had been recovered quietly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho arranged the returns?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My mother.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe got five children home?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich cases?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne could be Case Four.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. My mother never lost me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris asked:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does the list matter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause those families knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>Living families who had direct evidence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey could corroborate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is list?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas looked at Mom&#39;s grave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cArthur thought here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#39;s not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Helen tell Susan?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs Susan alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did she die?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFour years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she leave papers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecured?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou left Arthur\u2019s people there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn&#39;t know who he was when he came.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris called Virginia police.<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas\u2019s home had been entered an hour earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Back door forced.<\/p>\n<p>Study searched.<\/p>\n<p>One item missing.<\/p>\n<p>A blue folder.<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s hers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was in it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLetters from Helen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA list.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room chilled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe returned children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arthur had it now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy steal a list of people already returned?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because they were witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>Harris understood immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need names.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t remember them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked toward me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everything stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy sister?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas held my gaze.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw the name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel Carter?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it said Rachel Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That didn&#39;t make sense.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel had been legally adopted.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline said Samuel wasn&#39;t involved.<\/p>\n<p>Was she wrong?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel was one of the returned children?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nicholas said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReturned to who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe Rachel wasn&#39;t a returned victim.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe the list included children Helen personally protected.<\/p>\n<p>I called Rachel.<\/p>\n<p>She answered immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCommand center.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStay there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sentence never means anything good anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you know the name Susan Avery?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Mom ever mention a returned-child list?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I could hear Maya and Lily nearby.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s voice softened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked Dad about my adoption.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe confirmed it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow are you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don&#39;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you want me to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Finish what you&#39;re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The boundaries surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel had learned too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris searched the registry.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel not listed.<\/p>\n<p>No baby matching her birth year with known outcome.<\/p>\n<p>Caroline examined older files.<\/p>\n<p>Then stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is one unnumbered case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGirl, approximately four months old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s birth year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOriginal name?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlacement?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNotes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline read.<\/p>\n<p>Recovered before processing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Initials:<\/p>\n<p>H.M.<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom intercepted a baby before Samuel could place her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Possibly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould that baby be Rachel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen Mom adopted her afterward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Caroline looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would explain why Samuel wasn&#39;t involved in the adoption itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel could have been legally adopted after being rescued from an illegal pipeline.<\/p>\n<p>She wasn&#39;t stolen by my parents.<\/p>\n<p>She may have been saved by them.<\/p>\n<p>But we needed proof.<\/p>\n<p>No assumptions.<\/p>\n<p>I told Harris:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDNA.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rachel heard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her answer surprised me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou want testing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want my file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf DNA helps find my birth family, I want the choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour choice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I meant it.<\/p>\n<p>Harris arranged access to sealed adoption records.<\/p>\n<p>Court order.<\/p>\n<p>Emergency criminal investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Those records might answer Rachel\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>Then state police reported Arthur\u2019s getaway vehicle abandoned twelve miles away.<\/p>\n<p>Blood in the passenger seat.<\/p>\n<p>Not much.<\/p>\n<p>Oxygen equipment.<\/p>\n<p>No Arthur.<\/p>\n<p>Driver prints matched Michael Horne.<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>They switched vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>One surveillance camera captured the second car.<\/p>\n<p>Direction: east.<\/p>\n<p>Toward the command center.<\/p>\n<p>My chest tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGirls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harris was already calling.<\/p>\n<p>Security at command center answered.<\/p>\n<p>Safe.<\/p>\n<p>Maya.<\/p>\n<p>Lily.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel.<\/p>\n<p>Claire.<\/p>\n<p>All present.<\/p>\n<p>No breach.<\/p>\n<p>Then Claire came onto my phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMom\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She stopped herself.<\/p>\n<p>Not me.<\/p>\n<p>She had almost said something else perhaps.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone sent me a picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnknown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat picture?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She sent it.<\/p>\n<p>A newborn.<\/p>\n<p>Hospital bassinet.<\/p>\n<p>The bracelet read:<\/p>\n<p>RACHEL.<\/p>\n<p>On the back of the scanned image was one phrase:<\/p>\n<p>RETURNED CHILD #3.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel saw it beside her and began crying.<\/p>\n<p>Not because it proved everything.<\/p>\n<p>Because it proved something.<\/p>\n<p>She had been part of Mom\u2019s hidden rescue effort.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho sent this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Claire checked.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>Then another message arrived.<\/p>\n<p>FROM ARTHUR.<\/p>\n<p>Helen stole five from us.<\/p>\n<p>I want only one back.<\/p>\n<p>My skin went cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich one?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A final message.<\/p>\n<p>RACHEL.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=24546\">Click here to continue reading: PART 28: Arthur Reed Came for Rachel as the Last Living Symbol of Helen\u2019s Defiance, but Rachel Chose to Turn His Own Records Against Him<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nicholas looked older than the teacher I remembered. Of course he did. More gray. Glasses gone. Face thinner. But I knew him immediately. \u201cMr. Avery.\u201d His gun shifted slightly. Recognition &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24545","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\/24545","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=24545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24591,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24545\/revisions\/24591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}