Daniel repeated the message twice because I thought I had misunderstood him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca for the tape.\u201d<\/p>\n
The storage facility felt colder after he said it.<\/p>\n
Police officers continued photographing Linda\u2019s archive around us. Evidence tags accumulated on metal shelves. Boxes that had been untouched for years were being opened under fluorescent light, but suddenly none of it seemed important.<\/p>\n
Linda had Rebecca.<\/p>\n
And she believed we possessed Elena\u2019s recording.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have the tape,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice sounded frayed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would she make that demand?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to tell you something.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Of course he did.<\/p>\n
Everyone in this story had one more thing.<\/p>\n
Maya heard the change in my voice and stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I put Daniel on speaker.<\/p>\n
He breathed out slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tape from the safe isn\u2019t the only copy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena grabbed the edge of a filing cabinet.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou copied it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Arthur wouldn\u2019t keep something that dangerous in one place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s voice came faintly through my other phone, still connected from the earlier call.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI transferred the recording.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo another cassette?\u201d Maya asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Later. Around 2001, I digitized it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entire room seemed to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a digital copy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPart?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recording was damaged. The original tape had heat exposure and some sections had stretched. I managed to recover most of the first twelve minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSince when?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree years.\u201d<\/p>\n
I rubbed my forehead.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave Rebecca evidence that her mother committed arson?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave my wife evidence about the people who destroyed our families.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat includes her mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Rebecca do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe listened once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe vomited.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one said anything.<\/p>\n
Daniel continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted to confront Linda immediately. I stopped her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Linda would disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe disappeared anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exhaustion in Daniel\u2019s voice made him sound twenty years older.<\/p>\n
Maya asked, \u201cWhere did Rebecca keep the file?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEncrypted drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the hotel?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe carries it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A bad realization came over me.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Linda has Rebecca, she may already have the copy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca doesn\u2019t carry the drive somewhere obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel resisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn her necklace.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Rebecca outside the Sacramento warehouse.<\/p>\n
A thin silver chain around her neck.<\/p>\n
Small rectangular pendant.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has a storage device inside the pendant?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Linda knows?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Rebecca may tell her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re putting a lot of faith in someone who\u2019s being held by her mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe has survived Linda before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was on the recovered portion?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s answer came quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough for what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo identify Linda.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already know she set the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tape identifies why she did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad interrupted from the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou heard that section?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me it was destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lied.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arthur laughed once without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently I taught everyone well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena ignored that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did I say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said Linda came into the house before the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said she gave you something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s hand moved unconsciously toward her arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe injected me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPike\u2019s drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said Linda kept asking one question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat question?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the second ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond?\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at Elena.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never mentioned another ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause there wasn\u2019t one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel said, \u201cThat\u2019s what Elena told Linda too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know until years later.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you learn?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel went quiet.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor believed Elena had created a second record containing only the payments Cole made outside the Morales operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya understood immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cA private corruption ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the blue ledger implicated Cole through Victor,\u201d I said, \u201cbut a second ledger would prove Cole was running his own network.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Linda wanted it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Cole ordered the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she was trying to recover evidence for him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final phrase mattered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel took a breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recording suggests Linda changed her mind that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me Linda said something before leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI could never tell whether you were quoting her exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said she whispered, \u2018If Cole thinks this burns with you, he\u2019ll stop looking at me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking at her for what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linda had not simply been Cole\u2019s instrument.<\/p>\n
She had been afraid of him.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t make her innocent.<\/p>\n
It made the structure more dangerous.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was Rebecca last seen?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHotel in Sacramento.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCameras?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice are pulling them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid anyone see Linda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica stood several feet away, arms folded around herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe won\u2019t take Rebecca somewhere random.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes you think that?\u201d Maya asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor trained people to use familiar places when they wanted control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s expression sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomewhere the captive recognizes. Somewhere loaded with history. It disorients you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sound like you\u2019ve experienced that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was nineteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor thought I stole documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised no one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did he take you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA house outside Salem.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my stomach tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it belonged to an old friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you find it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica took my phone and opened a map.<\/p>\n
She searched slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cForest road. White mailbox. There was an abandoned church nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena leaned over.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor used it before you were born.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeetings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Cole?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Pike.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLater.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya immediately contacted police.<\/p>\n
The property still existed.<\/p>\n
Ownership had transferred repeatedly between shell companies before landing under a private trust.<\/p>\n
The current trustee was a lawyer with historic ties to Raymond Cole.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s enough for surveillance,\u201d Maya said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot enough for entry,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may be once they connect Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
A message from Rebecca\u2019s number.<\/p>\n
A photograph loaded.<\/p>\n
Rebecca sat on the floor against a paneled wall.<\/p>\n
Her hands were bound in front of her.<\/p>\n
No visible blood.<\/p>\n
Around her neck, the silver chain was gone.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice came through speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He saw it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe took the necklace.\u201d<\/p>\n
A second image appeared.<\/p>\n
The pendant rested on a wooden table.<\/p>\n
Then a message.<\/p>\n
This is not the tape.<\/p>\n
Linda had opened it.<\/p>\n
She knew what Rebecca carried.<\/p>\n
Daniel cursed.<\/p>\n
Another message followed.<\/p>\n
Midnight. Bring Elena\u2019s recording.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have it,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Linda thinks you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena stared at the paneled wall behind Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Salem house?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed at a dark mark in the wood paneling.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor threw a fireplace poker during an argument. It hit the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica enlarged the image.<\/p>\n
A narrow gouge crossed the panel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena and Jessica looked at each other.<\/p>\n
Two women separated by decades recognizing the same scar in the same room.<\/p>\n
Maya spoke first.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have location confirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police moved quickly after that.<\/p>\n
The property was placed under surveillance.<\/p>\n
No visible movement.<\/p>\n
One car in the detached garage.<\/p>\n
Another behind the house.<\/p>\n
Thermal imaging suggested at least three people inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda, Rebecca, and who else?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
No one knew.<\/p>\n
Thomas remained in custody.<\/p>\n
Cole remained hospitalized under guard.<\/p>\n
Pike was dead.<\/p>\n
The possibilities narrowed.<\/p>\n
Elena paced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wants the tape.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo your plan is to walk in empty-handed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy plan is to buy Rebecca time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cLinda won\u2019t believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know Linda better?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Victor\u2019s methods. Linda learned from him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica\u2019s voice was firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you go in with nothing, she\u2019ll test you immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what do you suggest?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica looked at Daniel\u2019s image of the pendant.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe make her believe we found the original.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cassette from Unit 314.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen another cassette.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to bluff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019ll recognize it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot from across a room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if she demands playback?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica\u2019s expression did not change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we need an actual recording.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel spoke through the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can make one.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe recovered digital audio.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said Rebecca had the drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a backup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone stared.<\/p>\n
Even Maya looked offended.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have another copy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy attorney has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya narrowed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have an attorney other than me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re Arthur\u2019s attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow fast can you get it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something on the recording you haven\u2019t heard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sentence no longer frightens me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel answered her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou named someone else who was in the house before Linda.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s face lost color.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s voice came from my second phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was never inside that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel replied quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cElena said you were.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
Dad was the first.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was drugged.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut she recognized you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m telling you what\u2019s on the tape.\u201d<\/p>\n
The silence between them stretched across decades.<\/p>\n
Then Dad asked, \u201cWhat exactly did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018Arthur came back for the papers. He told Linda where Ethan was sleeping.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
My body went cold.<\/p>\n
I stared at Elena.<\/p>\n
She looked horrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s voice hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why would Mom say it?\u201d<\/p>\n
No one answered.<\/p>\n
The recording we were about to use as bait did not merely implicate Linda.<\/p>\n
It accused my father of helping her on the night our house burned.<\/p>\n
Daniel repeated the message twice because I thought I had misunderstood him. \u201cRebecca for the tape.\u201d The storage facility felt colder after he said it. Police officers continued photographing Linda\u2019s … <\/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-31512","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\/31512","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=31512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31547,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31512\/revisions\/31547"}],"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=31512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}