For several seconds, I could not move.<\/p>\n
The photograph on my phone showed Dad lying beneath a hospital blanket, his head turned slightly toward the window. The angle came from inside the room, close enough that whoever took it had stood only a few feet from his bed.<\/p>\n
You should have left the envelope closed.<\/p>\n
Maya read the message over my shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was this sent?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She checked the timestamp, then immediately called St. Vincent.<\/p>\n
I called Dad.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
The air inside Daniel Mercer\u2019s empty house felt suddenly too thin. I stepped toward the front door.<\/p>\n
Maya caught my sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father is alone in a hospital room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whoever sent that wants you frightened enough to rush somewhere without thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could already be hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice was sharp enough to stop me.<\/p>\n
She put the hospital on speaker.<\/p>\n
After a transfer and several agonizing seconds of hold music, a nurse answered from the intensive care unit.<\/p>\n
Maya identified herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need someone physically inside Arthur Hayes\u2019s room now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there an emergency?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA credible security threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse\u2019s tone changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
We waited.<\/p>\n
I stared at the photograph again.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s right hand was visible above the sheet.<\/p>\n
His fingers were relaxed.<\/p>\n
No blood.<\/p>\n
No obvious struggle.<\/p>\n
That meant nothing.<\/p>\n
The nurse returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Hayes is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
My knees weakened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he awake?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis son.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s awake now. Hospital security is with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was in his room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas Linda Barrett there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then, \u201cLinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. Linda Barrett.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not familiar with that name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya and I looked at each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe works there,\u201d I said. \u201cShe was the person who contacted me when my father came in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no Linda Barrett assigned to this unit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room around me seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n
Maya stepped closer to the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease check whether anyone by that name works for the hospital at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t provide employee information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen contact security and ask them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nurse agreed.<\/p>\n
I ended the call and immediately opened my recent calls.<\/p>\n
The number Linda had used was still there.<\/p>\n
I dialed.<\/p>\n
A recorded message answered.<\/p>\n
The number was no longer in service.<\/p>\n
Maya swore softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wasn\u2019t hospital staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she knew everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew enough to impersonate someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe walked around the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do hundreds of visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe handed me the envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich means she was close enough to Arthur to intercept it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the silver-framed glasses.<\/p>\n
The calm expression.<\/p>\n
The reassuring hand on my arm.<\/p>\n
She had told me Dad was lucid.<\/p>\n
She had known the warning he wrote.<\/p>\n
Maybe she had even watched him write it.<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Dad.<\/p>\n
I answered immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been better.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice sounded weak but irritated, which relieved me more than I expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was in your room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone took a picture of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman came in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat woman?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said she was with administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMid-fifties. Glasses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you recognize her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked where I kept the original records.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat she should go to hell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite everything, I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe smiled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she touch anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy water.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t drink it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI already did.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA sip.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya\u2019s calling the hospital right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan, calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone impersonated hospital staff and photographed you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m aware.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou drank something she handled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, I remain annoyingly alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya was already calling the nurse again.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, where\u2019s hospital security?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep them there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t planning to throw them out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know Thomas Barrett?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya stopped dialing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t connect him to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor\u2019s investigator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. He was more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found Elena after the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gripped the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe got away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel helped.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Barrett know about me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came too quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince when?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince you were a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
A chill moved through me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn\u2019t Victor come after me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Elena made herself more useful alive than you were useful as leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe convinced Victor she still had records he needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she stayed visible enough to distract him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guilt arrived before I could stop it.<\/p>\n
Thirty years.<\/p>\n
My mother had not simply vanished.<\/p>\n
She had stayed away because remaining lost was part of protecting me.<\/p>\n
Maya touched my arm and pointed at my phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk about Barrett\u2019s family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad, did Thomas Barrett have a wife?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman named Linda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNever heard of her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChildren?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t exactly exchange Christmas cards with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad went quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout your age, maybe younger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya typed quickly into her phone.<\/p>\n
I paced Daniel\u2019s living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to Barrett after Victor died?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s becoming a theme.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad sighed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan, I spent most of my life protecting you from people I hoped you\u2019d never need to know existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now I need everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya turned her screen toward me.<\/p>\n
A property record.<\/p>\n
Thomas Barrett.<\/p>\n
Spouse: Linda Barrett.<\/p>\n
One child.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Barrett.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe daughter\u2019s name was Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Maya.<\/p>\n
She was already searching further.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay with security,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd tell the doctors about the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI already did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSecurity has more common sense than you think.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost laughed again.<\/p>\n
Then Dad\u2019s voice softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever you find, don\u2019t let anger make every decision for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Jessica.<\/p>\n
\u201cLittle late for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
Maya was still staring at her phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca Barrett changed her name.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt another piece move into place.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned the screen.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Louise Barrett had legally changed her name twelve years earlier.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Mercer.<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cMercer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel Mercer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot necessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can\u2019t be coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya opened another record.<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Her expression sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe married him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel Mercer married Rebecca Barrett eleven years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The timeline landed like a physical blow.<\/p>\n
My father had hired Maya eleven years ago.<\/p>\n
The same year.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes Dad know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel married the daughter of the man who hunted my mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd never mentioned it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
The betrayal multiplied again.<\/p>\n
Everyone had a secret.<\/p>\n
Everyone had a reason.<\/p>\n
And every secret seemed to point back toward Elena.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Jessica had sent her location.<\/p>\n
An abandoned shopping center on the east side.<\/p>\n
She wrote one sentence.<\/p>\n
SUV gone. I\u2019m okay.<\/p>\n
I called her.<\/p>\n
She answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re safe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cListen to me. Linda Barrett isn\u2019t hospital staff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s Thomas Barrett\u2019s wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica went silent.<\/p>\n
Then she whispered, \u201cI know that name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said Thomas worked for Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis daughter is Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI met her once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt my father\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeventeen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor called her family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word hung between us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of family?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never understood.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI swear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca married Daniel Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Rebecca\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew the face.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could hear traffic around her.<\/p>\n
Then she said, \u201cEthan, Victor had a photograph of Rebecca and Elena together.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. The picture looked old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were they doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStanding outside a diner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think California.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya heard enough to step closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat diner?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Jessica hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cRed awning. White sign. I remember part of the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething Harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya and I looked at the photograph of Elena in Mendocino.<\/p>\n
A coastal caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica,\u201d I said carefully, \u201cthe recent picture of Elena was taken outside a caf\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her breathing changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat caf\u00e9?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know the name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya opened image search results on her phone, but I barely watched.<\/p>\n
My attention had shifted toward Daniel\u2019s wall of photographs.<\/p>\n
One image showed a shoreline.<\/p>\n
Another, a street in a small coastal town.<\/p>\n
And in the corner of a third photograph, barely visible behind a parked truck, was a red awning.<\/p>\n
I walked closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Daniel\u2019s been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMendocino.\u201d<\/p>\n
I removed the photograph from the wall.<\/p>\n
On the back, someone had written a date.<\/p>\n
Four months ago.<\/p>\n
Two months before the photograph Daniel left for me.<\/p>\n
Below the date was one word.<\/p>\n
Rebecca.<\/p>\n
Maya read it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel wasn\u2019t searching alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr Rebecca found Elena first.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone chimed.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
I expected another threat.<\/p>\n
Instead, a video attachment appeared.<\/p>\n
The preview showed Daniel.<\/p>\n
He sat in a dim room, his face bruised.<\/p>\n
Someone had bound his hands to a chair.<\/p>\n
I pressed play.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked directly at the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Ethan sees this,\u201d he said, \u201cdo not go to California.\u201d<\/p>\n
A man moved behind him, staying outside the frame.<\/p>\n
Daniel swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cElena is not safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The video ended.<\/p>\n
Then a second message arrived.<\/p>\n
One photograph.<\/p>\n
Jessica standing beside her car at the abandoned shopping center.<\/p>\n
Taken from across the parking lot.<\/p>\n
She was still on the phone with me when it arrived.<\/p>\n
I looked at her location.<\/p>\n
Then at the image.<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGet in your car.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow.\u201d<\/p>\n
She heard something in my voice and obeyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
A car engine started faintly on her end of the call.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her tires squealed.<\/p>\n
Then the line crackled.<\/p>\n
I heard a collision.<\/p>\n
Metal against metal.<\/p>\n
Jessica screamed.<\/p>\n
The call went dead.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, I could not move. The photograph on my phone showed Dad lying beneath a hospital blanket, his head turned slightly toward the window. The angle came from … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31504","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\/31504","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=31504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31539,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31504\/revisions\/31539"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}