Chapter 10 - Two Women Named Rebecca
The woman sitting across from me did not react when I repeated Marcus’s claim.
“Rebecca Vale died in 2009.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What is he talking about?”
She remained silent.
“Who are you?” I asked.
Lena kept one hand near her weapon.
The woman slowly removed a thin silver ring from her finger.
Beneath it was a tattooed number.
“Rebecca Vale was my sister,” she said.
“What is your name?”
“Rachel.”
Daniel looked as if he had been struck.
“For three years, I called you Rebecca.”
“You called me what you needed me to be.”
“Were we ever legally registered as domestic partners?”
“No. The declaration used Rebecca’s identity.”
“Why?”
“Because she was dead.”
Daniel covered his face.
I felt no pity for him.
Only exhaustion.
“Why did your sister die?” I asked.
Rachel looked toward the passing buildings.
“She worked with Margaret Mercer. After Adrian’s accident, they continued tracing the stolen funds. Rebecca discovered that money from the trust had financed private clinics, data companies, and political consulting firms.”
“What did those companies do?”
“They created people.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Records. Histories. identities. A person could be declared mentally ill, financially incompetent, criminal, missing, or dead. Another person could be given a clean identity and access to assets that did not belong to them.”
Like the false medical history created for me.
“Rebecca tried to expose the network,” Rachel said. “Her car exploded outside her apartment.”
“And you took her name.”
“To find Calder.”
“You joined him.”
“I entered his organization.”
“You helped Daniel target me.”
“I needed access to the Mercer Trust.”
“You forged my documents.”
“Yes.”
“You altered my life insurance.”
“Yes.”
“You prepared the death certificate.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Rachel looked at my prepaid phone.
“Ask your brother.”
Marcus remained on the line.
I raised the phone.
“She says you prepared the death certificate.”
“I did not.”
“Did you send the envelope?”
Silence.
“Marcus?”
“Yes.”
The answer changed the air inside the car.
Daniel leaned forward.
“You sent her those documents?”
“I sent evidence that would stop her from boarding the plane.”
“Where did you obtain the death certificate application?” I asked.
“From a secure server linked to Northstar.”
“Did you create it?”
“No.”
“Can you prove that?”
“I can prove the file existed before I accessed it.”
Rachel laughed softly.
“You can prove anything with the correct server.”
Marcus ignored her.
“Do not take Noah to Helen Mercer.”
“He is already with her.”
“Then retrieve him and leave immediately.”
“Why?”
“Helen is not our great-aunt.”
Rachel’s head turned.
“What?”
Marcus continued.
“I searched family records. Our grandmother had no sister.”
Rachel’s confidence broke.
“She showed me photographs.”
“Photographs can be manufactured.”
“She knew details only family members could know.”
“So does Calder.”
Lena accelerated.
“How far are we?” I asked.
“Eight minutes.”
Marcus spoke urgently.
“Evelyn, I’m sending federal agents.”
“You said the police were compromised.”
“I trust this team.”
“Do you trust Lena?”
“Yes.”
“Do you trust Rachel?”
“No.”
Rachel leaned toward the phone.
“Ask him what happened in Baltimore.”
Marcus fell silent.
“What happened in Baltimore?” I asked.
“Nothing relevant.”
Rachel smiled.
“Marcus located Calder eleven years ago. They met inside a hotel conference room. Two hours later, Calder walked away. Marcus’s investigation was closed within a week.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes,” Marcus said. “But not for the reason she implies.”
“Why was it closed?”
“My supervisor was compromised.”
“And you resigned.”
“I was injured.”
“You resigned six months after the injury.”
“I could no longer protect the case from inside.”
Rachel shook her head.
“He made a deal.”
“What deal?” I asked.
“To keep you outside the investigation.”
Marcus’s voice hardened.
“She is lying.”
“Am I? Tell Evelyn what Calder demanded.”
The line crackled.
Then Marcus said, “He threatened our mother.”
Rachel looked at me.
“He threatened you too.”
“What did you agree to?” I asked.
“I agreed to stop pursuing the network.”
“In exchange for our safety?”
“Yes.”
“Did he keep the agreement?”
“For eleven years.”
“Until Daniel approached Northstar.”
“No,” Rachel said. “Until the archive detected Evelyn’s signature.”
“What does that mean?”
“The archive is not a box of papers,” she explained. “It is a dormant digital system. Your mother designed it to activate when certain trust documents were altered.”
“Daniel’s forged paperwork woke it up?”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“It began sending fragments of evidence to people selected by Margaret.”
“The envelope.”
“One fragment.”
“The school drawing?”
“Possibly another signal.”
“My mother’s voice?”
Rachel’s face tightened.
“That may have come from the archive.”
The implications were dizzying.
My mother had created something that remained active after her death.
Something Calder desperately wanted.
Something that had just awakened.
Lena turned onto a narrow street lined with old brick apartment buildings.
Police sirens sounded far behind us.
Rachel pointed toward a blue building.
“Third floor.”
The front entrance stood open.
We climbed the stairs.
The hallway smelled of disinfectant and boiled vegetables.
Apartment 3C was unlocked.
I pushed the door open.
“Noah?”
The living room was empty.
A cartoon played silently on the television.
Two cups of hot chocolate stood on the table.
One cup had spilled.
A child’s blue pajama sleeve lay near the sofa.
“Noah!”
I ran through the apartment.
The bedroom was empty.
The bathroom window stood open.
On the mirror, someone had written a message in red lipstick.
THE BOY REMEMBERED HER VOICE.
NOW THE MOTHER MUST REMEMBER HER FACE.
Beneath the words was a photograph.
My mother stood outside our childhood home.
Beside her was Marcus.
On her other side stood a man with silver hair and a scar along his cheek.
May you like
Calder.
The photograph had been taken five years after Adrian died.
