Chapter 29 - THE LAST BLACK ENVELOPEThree years later, Mara found an envelope beneath her office door.
Black.
No return address.
She froze.
Old instincts returned instantly.
Photograph.
Gloves.
Evidence bag.
Then she opened it.
Inside was a photograph of the rebuilt Meridian harbor.
On the back:
THE TIDE ALWAYS RETURNS.
Alvarez read it.
“Another cell?”
“Maybe.”
Reyes began tracing the paper.
Nathan called five minutes later.
“Mara, before you panic, I mailed something to your office.”
She closed her eyes.
“You sent this?”
“Turn it over again.”
Beneath the threatening sentence, almost invisible, Nathan had written:
So build a better harbor. Happy birthday.
Mara laughed.
Alvarez stared at her.
“You nearly mobilized federal investigators over a birthday card.”
“I still might arrest him.”
Her phone rang.
Federal prison.
Thomas.
She accepted.
“Happy birthday,” he said.
“Thank you.”
A pause.
“Are you safe?”
Mara looked through the glass wall of her office.
Young officers moved through the operations center.
No locked doors.
No hidden cameras.
No single person controlling everything.
“No,” she said.
Thomas became quiet.
Then Mara smiled.
“I'm responsible.”
May you like
There was a difference.
And finally, Thomas understood it.
