{"id":28242,"date":"2026-10-02T20:38:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T20:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=28242"},"modified":"2026-10-02T20:38:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T20:38:16","slug":"part-5-the-name-in-daniels-file-made-margaret-go-pale-and-her-reaction-revealed-she-had-been-hiding-something-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=28242","title":{"rendered":"PART 5 \u2013 The Name in Daniel\u2019s File Made Margaret Go Pale, and Her Reaction Revealed She Had Been Hiding Something Too"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Margaret\u2019s coffee cup stopped halfway to her mouth.<\/p>\n<p>It was a small movement, almost nothing, but after a night spent studying tiny changes in Ethan\u2019s face, I saw it clearly. Her fingers tightened around the porcelain handle. The color drained from the skin around her lips.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel saw it too.<\/p>\n<p>He kept his hand on the document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat is the Blackwood Archive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret set down her cup with care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan turned toward her.<\/p>\n<p>The look between them lasted less than a second.<\/p>\n<p>That was enough.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen perhaps someone else can explain why the phrase appears in the margin of records connected to Silver Crest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mara slid the first financial sheet toward the center of the table. \u201cThe handwriting isn\u2019t Ethan\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan gave a short laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve conducted handwriting analysis over breakfast?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d Mara said. \u201cI have functioning eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at her with open dislike.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel tapped the handwritten words. \u201cWe found this notation on three separate sets of property records. Different entities. Same handwriting. Same phrase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>Her hands had disappeared beneath the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told you. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou recognized it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice carried the same warning Ethan used when I stepped outside whatever role they had assigned me.<\/p>\n<p>I did not move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho wrote it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s gaze shifted toward the rain-dark windows.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stood suddenly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has gone far enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deputy near the kitchen entrance moved his weight from one foot to the other.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel remained seated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve said that twice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you\u2019re free not to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan gave him a hard look.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is my house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur house,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>He ignored me.<\/p>\n<p>Mara opened another folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you\u2019ll want to participate in this part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She placed three documents beside one another.<\/p>\n<p>The first was the industrial property sale Daniel had mentioned.<\/p>\n<p>The second involved a waterfront warehouse purchased by Blackwood Development six years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The third concerned a vacant commercial parcel outside the city.<\/p>\n<p>Different years.<\/p>\n<p>Different sellers.<\/p>\n<p>Different shell companies.<\/p>\n<p>The same pattern.<\/p>\n<p>A company bought inexpensive property.<\/p>\n<p>Months later Blackwood Development purchased it for several times the amount.<\/p>\n<p>Money disappeared through layers of accounts.<\/p>\n<p>Mara pointed at the final column.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSilver Crest isn\u2019t the only entity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan folded his arms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongratulations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorth Briar Holdings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCrown Meridian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face stayed still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLarkspur Development Partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret inhaled sharply.<\/p>\n<p>This time everyone heard it.<\/p>\n<p>Mara stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret stared at the table.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked, \u201cYou know Larkspur?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou reacted to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI reacted because this conversation is absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel pulled another document from his file.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis one predates Ethan becoming CEO.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room changed.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s eyes moved toward the page.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s did not.<\/p>\n<p>Mara turned it so I could read the date.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-one years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>He had been barely out of college.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel said, \u201cLarkspur purchased land from a distressed manufacturer for one-point-eight million dollars. Eleven months later, Blackwood Development bought it for six-point-nine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s voice was quieter now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was my father\u2019s era.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel caught the wording.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis era?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father ran the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you\u2019re saying any irregularity from that period belonged to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m saying I was twenty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were twenty-one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClose enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mara slid another page forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour name appears as a witness on one of the transfer documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat proves nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one said it proved everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The distinction irritated him.<\/p>\n<p>I studied Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>She seemed smaller than she had an hour earlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho was Larkspur?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>She shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I waited.<\/p>\n<p>She finally looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>There was fear in her expression now, but not fear of me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome things are older than your marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan turned sharply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She flinched.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen help us understand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>For a moment I thought she might actually speak.<\/p>\n<p>Then Ethan said, \u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One word.<\/p>\n<p>Not loud.<\/p>\n<p>The effect on her was immediate.<\/p>\n<p>Her eyes opened.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever had almost emerged disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>I understood then that Ethan\u2019s control over his mother was different from his control over me.<\/p>\n<p>Mine had been built through intimacy.<\/p>\n<p>Hers had been built through shared history.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel seemed to reach the same conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>He shifted his attention to Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour father died nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHeart attack?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what heart attack means.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret whispered, \u201cEthan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel continued as if he had not heard the interruption.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo weeks before his death, he contacted an attorney outside the family firm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>Just slightly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know he did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe attorney remembers the meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen ask him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silence spread across the table.<\/p>\n<p>Mara removed a single-page memorandum.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour father was attempting to revise several trust arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s head came up.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s hand tightened around the back of his chair.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel watched both of them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe also requested copies of historic property transactions going back fifteen years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret said, \u201cThat cannot be right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned to her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Richard trusted his accountants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan interrupted. \u201cMy father was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mara looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith heart disease?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith stress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat didn\u2019t answer the question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe became paranoid near the end.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The word hung in the air.<\/p>\n<p>Paranoid.<\/p>\n<p>I felt something inside me turn cold.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>He had noticed too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInteresting word,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan realized his mistake.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t start.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy wife is unstable. My father was paranoid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not what I said.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt sounded remarkably similar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan pushed back from the table.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret suddenly spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard was not paranoid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sentence was so quiet I nearly missed it.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was angry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her voice shook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was frightened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel did not move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret looked at the documents.<\/p>\n<p>For a long time, she said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Then she whispered, \u201cOf what he had allowed the company to become.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stood completely still.<\/p>\n<p>I felt the air leave my lungs.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel spoke gently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat had it become?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret pressed both palms against the edge of the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA machine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one interrupted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA machine for making money disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>Something passed between mother and son that I could not name.<\/p>\n<p>Then Margaret turned to me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Ethan was young, Richard taught him that Blackwood Development belonged to the family in a way ordinary companies do not belong to their owners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt meant rules were for people who didn\u2019t know how to control the people enforcing them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deputy\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked, \u201cAnd the archive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard kept records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan laughed without humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s confused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret\u2019s head snapped toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the first time that morning, she sounded like the woman who had ruled family dinners for decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am not confused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He stared at her.<\/p>\n<p>She continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can say that about Claire if it helps you sleep. You will not say it about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words struck him harder than I expected.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel waited.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret looked down at the phrase again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard called it the archive because he didn\u2019t trust digital records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he keep?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCopies of everything he believed could destroy the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mara leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransactions?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccount numbers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNames?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan moved.<\/p>\n<p>He reached across the table and swept the document toward himself.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy stepped forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stopped.<\/p>\n<p>His fingers rested on the page.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s voice remained calm.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat reaction is not helping you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan released the paper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNone of you understand what you\u2019re dealing with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was the first completely honest thing he had said all morning.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned toward me.<\/p>\n<p>His eyes held something I had never seen before.<\/p>\n<p>Not contempt.<\/p>\n<p>Not anger.<\/p>\n<p>Fear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou should never have gotten involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was already involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His voice dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were protected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost laughed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy bruised face disagrees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think this is about us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer came too quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel leaned in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what is it about?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n<p>She looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Mara spoke.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe archive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He did not deny it.<\/p>\n<p>My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s in it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan dragged both hands through his hair.<\/p>\n<p>For a second, he seemed less like the polished executive who had dominated every room I had ever seen him enter and more like a frightened man trapped inside someone else\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n<p>Then he recovered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re making assumptions from fragments.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel lifted the twenty-one-year-old Larkspur document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFragments are enough to establish patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have no context.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen provide it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t owe you anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo,\u201d Daniel said. \u201cBut you may owe investors, regulators, and prosecutors quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s eyes went to the deputy.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy\u2019s expression remained neutral.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret whispered, \u201cWhere is the archive now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everyone turned toward her.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>She repeated the question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere did your father put it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou cleared his office after the funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou took the old file boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were company records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were his personal records.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were grieving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret recoiled.<\/p>\n<p>There it was again.<\/p>\n<p>Another person\u2019s memory dismissed as emotion.<\/p>\n<p>She saw it too.<\/p>\n<p>Her face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou took them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>The smallest glance.<\/p>\n<p>He wanted me to notice the pattern.<\/p>\n<p>I did.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan remembered everything when it benefited him.<\/p>\n<p>He forgot only what threatened him.<\/p>\n<p>Mara opened one final document.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis might help.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She placed a property tax record on the table.<\/p>\n<p>An address was highlighted.<\/p>\n<p>I recognized the street.<\/p>\n<p>Not the property.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho owns this?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTechnically?\u201d Mara said. \u201cA trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich trust?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Richard Blackwood Heritage Trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret stared at the address.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel asked, \u201cYou recognize it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret nodded slowly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was Richard\u2019s first office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Blackwood Development moved downtown?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho uses it now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one. I thought it had been sold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mara shook her head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProperty taxes were paid last month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSilver Crest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one spoke.<\/p>\n<p>I felt the pieces shift again.<\/p>\n<p>Silver Crest.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s old office.<\/p>\n<p>The archive.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-year-old transactions.<\/p>\n<p>My forged signatures.<\/p>\n<p>Medical documents.<\/p>\n<p>An affair.<\/p>\n<p>Everything that had seemed separate was starting to touch.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs the archive there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stared at the address.<\/p>\n<p>He did not answer.<\/p>\n<p>Then his second phone vibrated.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone heard it.<\/p>\n<p>He reached for his pocket.<\/p>\n<p>I watched his hand.<\/p>\n<p>So did Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan pulled out the phone.<\/p>\n<p>Not the one I normally saw.<\/p>\n<p>The black phone.<\/p>\n<p>For one terrible second, he seemed to forget that I knew.<\/p>\n<p>The screen lit.<\/p>\n<p>A message preview appeared.<\/p>\n<p>O: If they know about the archive, burn the office before they get there.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan turned the screen away.<\/p>\n<p>Too late.<\/p>\n<p>I had read it.<\/p>\n<p>So had Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>Mara stood.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy moved immediately toward Ethan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did that message say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSir, hand me the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deputy\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not make this worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan stepped back.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I knew what he was asking.<\/p>\n<p>I nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did it say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan shouted, \u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked straight at the deputy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt said if they know about the archive, burn the office before they get there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Margaret made a strangled sound.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy reached for his radio.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan\u2019s face went white.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel was already standing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAddress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mara gave it.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy called it in.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan moved toward the door.<\/p>\n<p>I blocked his path without thinking.<\/p>\n<p>He stopped inches from me.<\/p>\n<p>For a moment, neither of us breathed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMove,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His gaze dropped to my bruised mouth.<\/p>\n<p>Then returned to my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have no idea what you\u2019ve just done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Behind him, Margaret whispered, \u201cNeither do you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan turned.<\/p>\n<p>His mother was crying.<\/p>\n<p>Not loudly.<\/p>\n<p>She looked at him the way a person looks at someone they finally recognize.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel gathered the files.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to get to that building before someone else does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deputy held up one hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one is leaving until I get confirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Seconds passed.<\/p>\n<p>Then his radio crackled.<\/p>\n<p>A dispatcher\u2019s voice answered.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy listened.<\/p>\n<p>His expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel stepped closer.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy lowered the radio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFire department is already en route.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked at the address again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause somebody reported smoke from the building six minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ethan said nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Margaret stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked toward the rain beyond the window.<\/p>\n<p>The message had not been an instruction.<\/p>\n<p>It had been confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>Someone was already destroying the archive.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=28243\">Click here to continue reading: PART 6: We Reached Richard Blackwood\u2019s Abandoned Office Before the Fire Took Everything, but Someone Had Arrived Minutes Ahead of Us<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Margaret\u2019s coffee cup stopped halfway to her mouth. It was a small movement, almost nothing, but after a night spent studying tiny changes in Ethan\u2019s face, I saw it clearly. &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28242","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\/28242","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=28242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28288,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28242\/revisions\/28288"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}