Charles did not look surprised when Daniel placed the recorder on the table beside his hospital bed.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more than denial would have.<\/p>\n
I had gone with Daniel despite his original intention to confront his father alone. Marisa waited outside the room. Frank had a copy of every recovered audio file, so nothing Charles did could erase Sarah\u2019s voice again.<\/p>\n
Charles looked from the recorder to his son.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew it existed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Sarah recorded some conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles adjusted himself against the pillows. Even that small movement exhausted him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never knew where she hid it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou lied about being in her room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t even try anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo do what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDefend yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent most of my life confusing defense with explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel placed his phone beside the recorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis conversation is being recorded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI consent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Daniel played Sarah\u2019s final file.<\/p>\n
He did not skip anything.<\/p>\n
Harlan\u2019s fear.<\/p>\n
Pike\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n
The argument.<\/p>\n
Cross interrupting.<\/p>\n
Charles entering Sarah\u2019s room.<\/p>\n
His apology.<\/p>\n
His final instruction.<\/p>\n
If the boy survives, keep him away from all of us.<\/p>\n
When the audio stopped, Charles closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Daniel waited.<\/p>\n
I had expected shouting.<\/p>\n
Instead, his voice came quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho were you talking to?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRobert.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was in the room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why can\u2019t we hear him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was speaking toward the door. I knew he was nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told him to hide Leo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Leo survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew he had.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had men in the hospital. You had access to records. You had Harlan. You had Cross. You expect me to believe you couldn\u2019t determine whether a newborn was alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause by then I no longer knew which information was real.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer silenced him.<\/p>\n
Charles continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan told me the baby was in severe distress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn knew it then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not speak to Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have asked Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles flinched at Daniel calling Sarah\u2019s mother Mom, but he said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have asked Sarah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was unconscious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou went into her room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo an unconscious girl?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
My anger rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get to make that sound tender.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not trying to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou terrorized her for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou invaded her medical privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou tried to build a case to take her child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when you finally felt sorry, she couldn\u2019t even hear you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel picked up the recorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was Gordon Pike working for that night?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat question has bothered me for ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says he wasn\u2019t working for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why was he there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had dismissed him that afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou fired Pike?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSarah showed me evidence he had been selling information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo Harlan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo several people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of information?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCorporate intelligence initially. Later, private material.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout your family?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Harlan buy information from your security supervisor?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeverage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Every road returned to leverage.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlan knew I was preparing to cut him off,\u201d Charles continued. \u201cPike knew Harlan was vulnerable. They began protecting themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy blackmailing each other?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd later?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe they formed an arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoney.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles explained that Pike had access to wealthy clients, medical executives and private family information through Whitmore Strategic Protection.<\/p>\n
Harlan had access to medical records.<\/p>\n
Together, they possessed information people would pay to keep hidden.<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey built a blackmail operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile working for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you didn\u2019t notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles gave a bitter smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cPower makes a person very attentive to threats from outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd blind to the people standing beside him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of the black SUV outside the cemetery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Pike still connected to Whitmore Strategic Protection?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficially? No. He left nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnofficially?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI discovered recently that several current contractors once worked under him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank would want names.<\/p>\n
Daniel asked, \u201cDid Pike arrange the surveillance on Leo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou own the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI no longer control its daily operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut your money does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho ordered Leo photographed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked Vale to investigate after someone anonymously informed me that Sarah\u2019s child might be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel went completely still.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix weeks ago, I received a photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one of Leo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho sent it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo name.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd instead of calling us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed confirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel laughed in disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hired people to watch a ten-year-old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you send the threatening messages?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your people?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot on my instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo your surveillance found Leo, and then somebody else began threatening us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho had access to your investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVale. Two executives at the security company. The assigned team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNames.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles gave them.<\/p>\n
I wrote each down.<\/p>\n
Daniel asked, \u201cPike?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot officially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat phrase is doing a lot of work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cPike still has contacts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell us this immediately?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was trying to identify the source first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles\u2019s face tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found out Leo existed. You decided to investigate privately. You decided what we should know. You decided when we should know it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to protect him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s voice rose for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted to control the uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room fell silent.<\/p>\n
Daniel breathed slowly until his voice settled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho sent you the first photograph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid it come with a message?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked toward the recorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bennett boy survived. Ask what Harlan did.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone wanted you investigating Harlan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one in this story suddenly develops conscience without bringing ten years of evidence with them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you still have the envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVale does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank gets it today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel turned toward the door.<\/p>\n
Charles stopped him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel did not turn around.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPike contacted me after Harlan died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now Daniel faced him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I should stop looking into the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he threaten you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles reached for his phone.<\/p>\n
The message was still there.<\/p>\n
Daniel read it aloud.<\/p>\n
You buried this once. Leave it buried, or the boy pays for everyone\u2019s mistakes.<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t think that was worth mentioning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave it to Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should have given it to police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI intended\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel slammed his hand against the bed rail.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop intending.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are lying in a hospital bed after your entire system of secrets collapsed, and you are still routing evidence through your private attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m calling Frank.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles did not object.<\/p>\n
While Daniel spoke to him, I watched the old man.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does Pike care now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if the old records are exposed, people will ask what else he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe blackmail operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it still running?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Harlan was not the last person Pike compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel ended the call.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles nodded.<\/p>\n
Then his monitor alarm changed.<\/p>\n
A nurse entered, checked him and adjusted medication.<\/p>\n
For several minutes, we could not continue.<\/p>\n
As she left, Charles said, \u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Pike knows Sarah\u2019s recorder exists, he will come for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can\u2019t erase copies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may not know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen he may come for the people who heard it.\u201d<\/p>\n
My thoughts went immediately to Leo.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s did too.<\/p>\n
He called Marisa.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
He called the house.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
My heart began hammering.<\/p>\n
I called Leo\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n
Straight to voicemail.<\/p>\n
Daniel was already moving toward the door.<\/p>\n
Then my phone rang.<\/p>\n
Evelyn.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her breathing was fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone tried to get into the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
My knees weakened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA man came to the back door. He said he was police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrank\u2019s officer challenged him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel was beside me now, listening.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to the man?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe ran.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they catch him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUpstairs with Janice.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Charles watched us.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles did not appear pleased.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked Evelyn.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only saw him through the glass.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAge?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSixties, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHair?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGray.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything distinctive?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe walked with a limp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
Daniel noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cGordon Pike injured his left leg in Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
Frank entered less than a minute later.<\/p>\n
Daniel gave him the description.<\/p>\n
Frank immediately called officers at the house.<\/p>\n
Charles sank farther into the pillows.<\/p>\n
\u201cPike knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKnows what?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Sarah\u2019s evidence survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel stared at his father.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles looked toward the recorder.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone in this room told him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frank stopped.<\/p>\n
There were only five of us present.<\/p>\n
Charles.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
Frank.<\/p>\n
And, until moments earlier, the nurse.<\/p>\n
The hospital door stood partly open.<\/p>\n
Frank moved toward it.<\/p>\n
The nurse who had adjusted Charles\u2019s medication was gone.<\/p>\n
Hospital staff had no record of assigning anyone by her name.<\/p>\n
And for the second time in ten years, someone wearing medical clothing had walked into a room connected to Sarah\u2019s story and left before anyone asked whether they belonged there.<\/p>\n
Charles did not look surprised when Daniel placed the recorder on the table beside his hospital bed. That frightened me more than denial would have. I had gone with Daniel … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32292","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\/32292","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=32292"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32327,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32292\/revisions\/32327"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}