I called Jessica six times before I accepted that she wasn\u2019t going to answer.<\/p>\n
The seventh call went to voicemail.<\/p>\n
Maya was already dialing emergency services.<\/p>\n
I gave the dispatcher Jessica\u2019s last known location and the details of the crash I had heard through the phone.<\/p>\n
Then we drove.<\/p>\n
Daniel Mercer\u2019s house became irrelevant.<\/p>\n
My mother became irrelevant.<\/p>\n
For the next twenty minutes, the only thing in the world that mattered was reaching the shopping center.<\/p>\n
Police beat us there.<\/p>\n
Jessica\u2019s car sat crooked against a concrete parking barrier.<\/p>\n
The driver\u2019s door was open.<\/p>\n
The front bumper had been crushed.<\/p>\n
The other vehicle was gone.<\/p>\n
So was Jessica.<\/p>\n
I ran toward the car.<\/p>\n
An officer stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSir.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my wife\u2019s car.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need you to stay back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was on the phone with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas she injured?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard the impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer looked inside the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s blood.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
That did not help.<\/p>\n
Maya showed the officers the threatening photograph.<\/p>\n
They expanded the search.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, more patrol cars arrived.<\/p>\n
A helicopter was requested.<\/p>\n
Officers checked the nearby stores and alleys.<\/p>\n
I stood beneath a flickering parking lot light watching people search for my wife.<\/p>\n
The contradiction of that sentence nearly broke me.<\/p>\n
My wife.<\/p>\n
My possible half-sister.<\/p>\n
The woman who had approached me under a false identity.<\/p>\n
The person whose disappearance made me terrified in exactly the same way it would have the day before I learned any of this.<\/p>\n
Maya joined me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey found tire marks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLikely SUV.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlack?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I paced.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy take her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have the flash drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I touched my coat pocket.<\/p>\n
I had been carrying it since the break-in.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they think Dad has more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey know he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why Jessica?\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she matters to Elena.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Elena is alive,\u201d I said, \u201cand Jessica is her daughter\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s leverage against Elena.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly.<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
Every officer near us seemed to notice at once.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
No voice.<\/p>\n
Only breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Then a man spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan Hayes.\u201d<\/p>\n
His voice was calm.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou took my wife.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou misunderstand the arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat arrangement?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour family has spent decades keeping property that doesn\u2019t belong to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk him about the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya mouthed, Keep him talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what that is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you hurt Jessica\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re very protective of her considering what you recently learned.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood went cold.<\/p>\n
They knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've been listening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Daniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already saw him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat proves he was alive when you filmed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man chuckled softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re more like Elena than Arthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was not meant as a compliment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can call me Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya heard it.<\/p>\n
Thomas Barrett.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Linda?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife has always been better at getting close to people than I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas she the one in Dad\u2019s hospital room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already know the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy photograph him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou poisoned his water?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t sure whether to believe him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s in it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you don\u2019t understand the arrangement either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen carefully, Ethan. Arthur has until midnight tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo give us the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictoria becomes another family tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went dead.<\/p>\n
I stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
Victoria.<\/p>\n
Not Jessica.<\/p>\n
They still thought of her by the name Victor had given her.<\/p>\n
Maya immediately called Dad.<\/p>\n
We met at the hospital under police escort.<\/p>\n
Security had doubled outside his room.<\/p>\n
Dad saw my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took Jessica.\u201d<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas Barrett.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants a ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked away.<\/p>\n
Maya shut the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat answer isn\u2019t going to work anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean I literally don\u2019t have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who does?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElena.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve spent thirty years saying you don\u2019t know where she is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know she has the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had it the last time I saw her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stared at the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cNineteen ninety-eight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years after the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter letting me think she was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anger flared through me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeattle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe contacted me through Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel was already alive then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned away.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery sentence is another lie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were trying to keep you alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop using that as permission for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad flinched.<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
I wanted him to understand some part of what this felt like.<\/p>\n
Maya intervened.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur, tell us about the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad took a slow breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t one book. Not exactly. Elena called it the ledger because that\u2019s how she started it. She recorded transactions Victor thought nobody could trace. Payments. Bribes. property transfers. Trust distributions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNames?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCole?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPike?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBarrett?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes the original different from the copies?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSignatures.\u201d<\/p>\n
My attention sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor\u2019s. Cole\u2019s. Others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough to reopen everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Thomas believes Mom still has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he never found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did she hide it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cElena never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened in Seattle?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked older with every answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to take you and leave the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she had been followed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy Barrett?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she disappeared again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you came home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about my childhood after that.<\/p>\n
Dad making pancakes badly.<\/p>\n
Dad showing up for parent-teacher conferences in dirty work boots.<\/p>\n
Dad sitting awake beside me when I had pneumonia.<\/p>\n
All those ordinary acts existed alongside this impossible secret.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever hear from her again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow often?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRarely.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was the last time?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Victor died?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShortly before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat she was tired.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hurt.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to come home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you stop her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat should have made it safer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought it did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone tried to kill Daniel three weeks after the funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya looked sharply at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBarrett, we believed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Victor\u2019s death didn\u2019t end anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The old conspiracy had survived its architect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy keep pursuing the ledger after Victor was dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it implicated living people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCole.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many others?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
A message from Thomas.<\/p>\n
One image.<\/p>\n
Jessica sitting in a chair.<\/p>\n
Her forehead was bandaged.<\/p>\n
She was awake.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Another message followed.<\/p>\n
Midnight tomorrow.<\/p>\n
I showed Dad.<\/p>\n
His face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he think I can do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFind Elena.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Daniel can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Daniel is still alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas said so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked almost amused.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re trusting Thomas Barrett now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019re using his word as evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hated that he was right.<\/p>\n
Maya spoke carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Daniel knew where Elena was six weeks ago, he may have contacted her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the note.<\/p>\n
She asked about Ethan.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I showed him the photograph.<\/p>\n
For the first time since his surgery, my father looked completely defenseless.<\/p>\n
His hand rose toward the image.<\/p>\n
\u201cElena.\u201d<\/p>\n
He touched the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe looks\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlder?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do you.\u201d<\/p>\n
A tiny smile crossed his face and vanished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMendocino.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElena loved the coast.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew she might go there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. But she used to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya unfolded a map on her tablet.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel left Ethan a warning not to go to California.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we don\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at Dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas wants something Mom has.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Daniel found Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo California is the only lead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich is exactly why someone warned you away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel warned me because Elena wasn\u2019t safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen going there makes her less safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may have been forced to say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re determined.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don\u2019t make my mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Maya.<\/p>\n
Jessica.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
My mother.<\/p>\n
Then Dad reached for the water beside his bed and stopped.<\/p>\n
He stared at the cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked me a question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore they took me into surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat question?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked whether Elena still had the blue book.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlue book?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Linda knows what it looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you answer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew something she shouldn\u2019t have known.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat it was blue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe Thomas told her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the only people who ever saw that ledger were Elena, Daniel, me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Rebecca Barrett.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n
Thomas and Linda\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n
The person who had recently been in Mendocino.<\/p>\n
The person Daniel had apparently been searching with.<\/p>\n
Maya whispered, \u201cRebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Linda knew the color, Rebecca told her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
Daniel may have married Thomas Barrett\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n
But we had assumed that meant Rebecca had chosen Daniel over her family.<\/p>\n
Maybe she hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed again.<\/p>\n
A new photograph.<\/p>\n
Not Jessica.<\/p>\n
Rebecca Mercer.<\/p>\n
I knew her from the records Maya had found.<\/p>\n
She stood beside a roadside sign.<\/p>\n
WELCOME TO MENDOCINO.<\/p>\n
Behind her was the same older woman from Daniel\u2019s photograph.<\/p>\n
Elena.<\/p>\n
My mother.<\/p>\n
Underneath, Thomas had written:<\/p>\n
Now you understand why we don\u2019t need Arthur anymore.<\/p>\n
I called Jessica six times before I accepted that she wasn\u2019t going to answer. The seventh call went to voicemail. Maya was already dialing emergency services. I gave the dispatcher … <\/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-31505","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\/31505","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=31505"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31540,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31505\/revisions\/31540"}],"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=31505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}