Elaine held the photograph by its edges.<\/p>\n
Her hands were shaking.<\/p>\n
For the first time since I had met her, the control in her face disappeared completely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be anything under that blanket.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA bag.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA photograph doesn\u2019t prove someone is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me sharply.<\/p>\n
I had not agreed because I believed her.<\/p>\n
I agreed because I wanted her to hear how desperate each possibility sounded.<\/p>\n
Russell remained seated, staring at the date on the back.<\/p>\n
\u201c1961,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
I turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He rubbed his forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen this before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. The car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wayne\u2019s car.<\/p>\n
A dark Chevrolet with pale side panels.<\/p>\n
I remembered it from childhood.<\/p>\n
He had sold it before marrying Mama.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Daniel\u2019s old hunting property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat hunting property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside Millbrook.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew the town. Forty minutes east.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWayne took me once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSixteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
That would have been before my accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needed help moving something.\u201d<\/p>\n
The air in the room seemed to compress.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRussell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was dark. There were boxes in the trunk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoxes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWooden.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike Daniel\u2019s cigar box?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine placed the photograph down.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see Edwin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWayne?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was another man.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw his face.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer should have eased something.<\/p>\n
It did not.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWayne told me to stay near the car while they carried the boxes into an old shed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was in them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they sound like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they moved them. Papers? Metal? Glass?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell shut his eyes, replaying something sixty years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne was heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow heavy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo men carried it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid it make any sound?\u201d<\/p>\n
He paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cA clink.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCoins?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine walked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father never hunted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither did Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement hung there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why call it hunting property?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Russell gave a faint shrug.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what Wayne called it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mama\u2019s photograph remained on the table between us.<\/p>\n
Thomas Avery was never missing.<\/p>\n
The words no longer felt like a clue.<\/p>\n
They felt like an accusation.<\/p>\n
I turned to Elaine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Thomas Avery do before he disappeared?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe handled estates, insurance claims, personal injury work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSettlements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your father work with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot officially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWayne?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how did Wayne know him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Russell.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mama\u2019s box held answers somewhere.<\/p>\n
We searched.<\/p>\n
For the next twenty minutes, all three of us went through the records.<\/p>\n
There were copies of checks, old newspaper clippings, fragments of correspondence, notes written in Mama\u2019s hand, and several documents in Daniel Mercer\u2019s.<\/p>\n
One clipping concerned Thomas Avery.<\/p>\n
LOCAL ATTORNEY REPORTED MISSING.<\/p>\n
His wife had told police he left home one evening and never returned.<\/p>\n
His car was later found at a bus station.<\/p>\n
No note.<\/p>\n
No confirmed sighting.<\/p>\n
No body.<\/p>\n
Elaine touched the clipping.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up hearing this story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did people explain it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said he ran.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney was missing from client accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThousands.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid anyone prove he took it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen maybe he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine\u2019s mouth tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father defended him publicly for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said Thomas wasn\u2019t a thief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he knew who was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine looked at him.<\/p>\n
I could see the thought forming before she admitted it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Thomas discovered Daniel and Wayne taking money\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he may have confronted them,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Mama\u2019s photograph again.<\/p>\n
Three men.<\/p>\n
Wayne.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
Edwin Hall.<\/p>\n
Something beneath a blanket.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if Edwin wasn\u2019t part of it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine\u2019s eyes turned toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Mama wrote that Wayne could never allow me to remember the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that have to do with Edwin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I picked up the photo from my accident.<\/p>\n
The road.<\/p>\n
The ditch.<\/p>\n
The same place.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if I saw something there before I was hit?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were seventeen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas disappeared years earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying I saw Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated those words.<\/p>\n
I had been hearing them all day.<\/p>\n
Then an image surfaced.<\/p>\n
Not clear enough to call memory.<\/p>\n
A flash.<\/p>\n
A shovel leaning against a fence.<\/p>\n
Wayne\u2019s shirt dark with sweat.<\/p>\n
A patch of disturbed ground near the road.<\/p>\n
I stood too quickly.<\/p>\n
My chair scraped backward.<\/p>\n
Russell looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember a shovel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day I was hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
His face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never told me that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t remember it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Heat.<\/p>\n
Crickets.<\/p>\n
Dust.<\/p>\n
Wayne\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t go down there.<\/p>\n
Then another voice.<\/p>\n
My own.<\/p>\n
Why is the ground dug up?<\/p>\n
I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was burying something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNear the ditch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine picked up the old photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same ditch?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked carefully.<\/p>\n
The curve of the road was distinctive.<\/p>\n
A crooked fence post appeared in both photographs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
The room felt colder despite the summer heat outside.<\/p>\n
I sat again and pressed my palms to the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy accident happened because I found him there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell\u2019s eyes lowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard you arguing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did I say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTry.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shut his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou asked why he was digging.\u201d<\/p>\n
The memory clicked into place.<\/p>\n
Not fully.<\/p>\n
Enough.<\/p>\n
Wayne had been angry before the truck appeared.<\/p>\n
He had grabbed my arm.<\/p>\n
I had pulled away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it was none of your business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you were telling Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
Russell opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when he grabbed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine whispered, \u201cMy God.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could feel the moment approaching inside my memory.<\/p>\n
Not the impact.<\/p>\n
The choice before it.<\/p>\n
Wayne looking toward the road.<\/p>\n
The sound of an engine coming.<\/p>\n
His hand on my shoulder.<\/p>\n
I heard myself say, very quietly, \u201cHe saw the truck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew it was coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he look at it before he pushed me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell hesitated.<\/p>\n
Then nodded again.<\/p>\n
The room blurred.<\/p>\n
For sixty years, part of me had wondered whether the push had been anger followed by catastrophe.<\/p>\n
Now I knew better.<\/p>\n
Wayne had looked.<\/p>\n
He had calculated.<\/p>\n
Perhaps only for a second.<\/p>\n
Perhaps without planning it in advance.<\/p>\n
But he had seen the truck.<\/p>\n
And he had pushed anyway.<\/p>\n
I gripped the table until my fingers hurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was buried there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell looked toward Mama\u2019s notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need the storage unit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf something happened there in 1961, sixty-five years have passed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMama preserved records for decades because it mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine stopped.<\/p>\n
I took the old photograph and the accident photo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fence line is still visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to go there now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell looked uneasy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to get to Memphis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe auction is tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re losing time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if the unit contains evidence connected to whatever Wayne buried, then understanding this comes first.\u201d<\/p>\n
He did not argue again.<\/p>\n
We left Elaine\u2019s office with the banker\u2019s box, Mama\u2019s notebook, and copies of everything Carol had provided.<\/p>\n
Elaine insisted on coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not waiting here while you go looking for something that may involve my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
We took my car.<\/p>\n
Russell sat beside me.<\/p>\n
Elaine sat in back with the box.<\/p>\n
The road lay outside town, farther from development than I expected. Fields had changed hands, trees had grown taller, and several houses had disappeared.<\/p>\n
But the curve remained.<\/p>\n
I slowed.<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened before I recognized anything consciously.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell followed my gaze.<\/p>\n
A broken fence post stood beside the drainage ditch.<\/p>\n
Still crooked.<\/p>\n
Still leaning.<\/p>\n
I pulled onto the shoulder.<\/p>\n
For several seconds I could not open the door.<\/p>\n
The heat outside shimmered above the pavement.<\/p>\n
Traffic was lighter than it had been sixty years ago.<\/p>\n
Still, the sound of tires passing made my chest tighten.<\/p>\n
Russell noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to get out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped onto the gravel.<\/p>\n
My left leg ached immediately, though I knew that was memory as much as weather.<\/p>\n
I walked toward the ditch.<\/p>\n
The terrain had changed.<\/p>\n
Grass covered everything.<\/p>\n
A line of young trees grew farther back.<\/p>\n
I compared the photographs.<\/p>\n
Elaine pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell moved ten feet beyond it.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He crouched.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere used to be an old marker here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor property?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He brushed dirt from the ground with his hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n
I joined him.<\/p>\n
A rectangular shape lay just beneath the grass.<\/p>\n
We pulled weeds away.<\/p>\n
The object was concrete.<\/p>\n
Not a grave marker.<\/p>\n
A foundation block.<\/p>\n
Maybe part of an old structure.<\/p>\n
Russell frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis wasn\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
We walked along the ditch.<\/p>\n
I tried to follow memory instead of sight.<\/p>\n
Wayne near the road.<\/p>\n
Shovel.<\/p>\n
Disturbed soil.<\/p>\n
His voice telling me to stay away.<\/p>\n
Then I saw the tree.<\/p>\n
An old oak stood beyond the fence.<\/p>\n
Scarred along one side.<\/p>\n
I remembered scratching initials into its bark as a teenager.<\/p>\n
I limped toward it.<\/p>\n
The letters were still faintly visible.<\/p>\n
L.M.<\/p>\n
I touched them.<\/p>\n
My seventeen-year-old hand had been here.<\/p>\n
The ditch was thirty feet behind me.<\/p>\n
The road twenty feet beyond that.<\/p>\n
I turned slowly.<\/p>\n
Memory aligned with geography.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pointed toward a patch of ground near the oak.<\/p>\n
Russell\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remember?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine walked closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA metal barrel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came from Russell.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t mention a barrel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI forgot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. You didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes met mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remembered it when we pulled up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was in it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRussell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPapers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat papers?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWayne was burning them.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day I was hit?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you say that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I didn\u2019t understand what they were.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did they look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFolders. Documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine stepped toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cLegal files?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome had letterhead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer and Hall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine looked toward the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2019s files.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
A truck passed behind us.<\/p>\n
The roar of the engine cut through me.<\/p>\n
For one terrible second I was seventeen again.<\/p>\n
I stepped backward instinctively.<\/p>\n
Russell caught my arm.<\/p>\n
I jerked away.<\/p>\n
He released me at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the road.<\/p>\n
Something flashed in my memory.<\/p>\n
A page blowing from the barrel.<\/p>\n
Landing near the ditch.<\/p>\n
Me bending to pick it up.<\/p>\n
Wayne shouting.<\/p>\n
I whispered, \u201cI found something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
The memory sharpened.<\/p>\n
A name at the top.<\/p>\n
Thomas.<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas Avery.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine inhaled sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw his name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a check.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPayable to whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
I tried.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Then one word surfaced.<\/p>\n
Bearer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was made out to bearer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
Old financial instruments.<\/p>\n
Easy to move.<\/p>\n
Hard to trace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Wayne do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked him why he had it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to give it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell whispered, \u201cThat\u2019s why.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why he chased you toward the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another piece dropped into place.<\/p>\n
I had not simply discovered Wayne destroying evidence.<\/p>\n
I had taken some.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did I put it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they find it after the accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new possibility opened.<\/p>\n
If Wayne had pushed me before retrieving the paper, perhaps someone else had.<\/p>\n
Mama.<\/p>\n
Russell.<\/p>\n
A police officer.<\/p>\n
Or perhaps it still existed.<\/p>\n
Elaine searched Mama\u2019s box while standing beside the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing labeled Thomas except the photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked farther from the ditch.<\/p>\n
My younger self had run somewhere before Wayne caught me.<\/p>\n
Toward the oak.<\/p>\n
Toward the fence.<\/p>\n
I looked at the tree again.<\/p>\n
There was a hollow near the base.<\/p>\n
Too obvious.<\/p>\n
I knelt anyway.<\/p>\n
Inside were leaves, insects, and dirt.<\/p>\n
No paper.<\/p>\n
Russell wandered toward the old foundation block.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice was different.<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
He pointed at the concrete.<\/p>\n
One side had crumbled.<\/p>\n
Something metallic protruded beneath it.<\/p>\n
We cleared away dirt.<\/p>\n
A rusted corner emerged.<\/p>\n
A box.<\/p>\n
Small.<\/p>\n
Tin.<\/p>\n
Elaine crouched beside us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat didn\u2019t get there recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell used the tire iron from my trunk to pry around it.<\/p>\n
The earth resisted.<\/p>\n
After several minutes, the tin came free.<\/p>\n
Its lid had nearly rusted through.<\/p>\n
I opened it carefully.<\/p>\n
Inside, wrapped in waxed cloth, were papers.<\/p>\n
Not many.<\/p>\n
Five or six.<\/p>\n
The top document was stained but readable.<\/p>\n
Thomas Avery\u2019s name appeared across the letterhead.<\/p>\n
Beneath it was a handwritten note.<\/p>\n
If anything happens to me, Edwin knows why.<\/p>\n
Elaine covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
The second page was a list of client accounts.<\/p>\n
The third contained Daniel Mercer\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
The fourth contained Wayne\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Then we reached the final sheet.<\/p>\n
A photocopy of a bank draft.<\/p>\n
Pay to bearer.<\/p>\n
$41,000.<\/p>\n
Dated three days before Thomas Avery disappeared.<\/p>\n
On the back, someone had written one sentence in pencil.<\/p>\n
Wayne took this tonight. Daniel helped. Edwin saw them.<\/p>\n
Elaine stared at her father\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe witnessed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did he never go to police?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered.<\/p>\n
A shadow moved across the page.<\/p>\n
Russell had stood.<\/p>\n
He was looking toward the road.<\/p>\n
A black sedan had slowed fifty yards behind us.<\/p>\n
It did not pass.<\/p>\n
It stopped.<\/p>\n
I followed his gaze.<\/p>\n
The driver remained inside.<\/p>\n
Elaine whispered, \u201cDo either of you know that car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell stepped toward us.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut the papers away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause whoever that is has been behind us since town.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou noticed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd said nothing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was imagining it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sedan began moving again.<\/p>\n
Slowly.<\/p>\n
It rolled past us.<\/p>\n
The driver turned his head.<\/p>\n
An older man.<\/p>\n
Gray hair.<\/p>\n
Dark glasses.<\/p>\n
I did not recognize him.<\/p>\n
Elaine did.<\/p>\n
She grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
She kept staring after the sedan.<\/p>\n
\u201cElaine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat man used to work for Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of work?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her grip tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kind nobody wrote down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elaine held the photograph by its edges. Her hands were shaking. For the first time since I had met her, the control in her face disappeared completely. \u201cThat could be … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26733","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\/26733","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=26733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26768,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26733\/revisions\/26768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}