Chapter 7 - The Woman Who Died Twice
Richard Hayes's mother was named Eleanor.
She died in 2003.
Cancer.
Richard had been stationed overseas during most of her illness.
He arrived forty hours before the funeral.
Closed casket.
Another closed casket.
Richard suddenly saw a pattern where grief had once prevented questions.
Emily explained slowly.
"When Mom was dying, she gave me a key."
"What kind?"
"Small brass key."
"To what?"
"She didn't say."
Richard listened.
"She told me if anyone ever asked about Winter Lantern, I should find Grandma."
Richard stared at her.
"You were twenty."
"I thought the medication was making Mom confused."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Grandma had been dead for years."
Richard felt a strange pressure behind his ribs.
Emily continued.
"Then three months ago I received a birthday card."
"From whom?"
"No name."
"What did it say?"
"Only one sentence."
Emily closed her eyes.
"Your grandmother kept what your mother could not."
"Where is the card?"
"My office."
Claire later found it inside a locked desk drawer.
The handwriting did not match Eleanor's known letters.
But the postmark came from a town called Cedar Falls.
Population: 2,410.
Three hours north.
Richard drove there the next morning with Claire.
Nathan stayed beside Emily.
Cedar Falls was the kind of place where strangers were noticed.
They showed Eleanor's photograph to several residents.
Nobody recognized her.
At a local post office, however, the clerk remembered the envelope.
"Older woman mailed it."
Richard's pulse quickened.
"How old?"
"Seventies, maybe eighties."
"Hair?"
"White."
"Did she give a name?"
"No."
Security footage had already been overwritten.
They searched property records.
One address appeared repeatedly beside shell corporations connected to Red Harbor.
A farmhouse outside town.
Richard and Claire arrived shortly before sunset.
The house looked abandoned.
But smoke rose from the chimney.
Richard approached the door.
Claire drew her weapon.
He knocked.
Nothing.
Again.
A woman's voice answered.
"Richard?"
He froze.
The door opened.
An elderly woman stood inside.
White hair.
Thin.
Frail.
Richard stared.
Not Eleanor.
But he knew her.
Katherine's older sister.
Margaret Lane.
Richard had been told Margaret died in a boating accident twenty-six years earlier.
He whispered, "Margaret?"
She smiled sadly.
"You got old."
Richard almost laughed from disbelief.
"So did the dead."
Margaret let them inside.
The farmhouse contained maps.
Files.
Photographs.
Multiple radios.
Claire stared.
"What is this place?"
Margaret answered, "Insurance."
Richard faced her.
"Where is my mother's body?"
Margaret became still.
He repeated the question.
"Where is Eleanor?"
"Dead."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Then why did Katherine tell Emily to find Grandma?"
Margaret looked toward the window.
"Because your mother had a name in the network."
Richard understood.
"Grandma was a code name."
Margaret nodded.
"For me."
Richard stepped back.
Katherine's sister had been the grandmother Emily was supposed to find.
"Why fake your death?"
"Because Michael Mercer tried to kill me."
"When?"
"1999."
"Why?"
"I was working with Katherine."
Richard shook his head.
"Everyone around me was apparently working intelligence except me."
Margaret looked at him.
"That was intentional."
"Why?"
"You were useful because you were clean."
Richard laughed bitterly.
"Useful."
"Katherine loved you."
"She lied to me for twenty years."
"To keep you alive."
Richard's eyes hardened.
"My daughter was tortured."
Margaret's face broke.
"I know."
"Then your plan failed."
Silence.
Claire asked, "Do you have the ledger?"
Margaret nodded.
Richard's breathing slowed.
"Where?"
"Not here."
"Where?"
Margaret looked at him.
"Your daughter has been carrying the key to it for eleven years."
Richard frowned.
"The bracelet."
Margaret nodded.
"The bracelet clasp Katherine gave you."
Richard remembered the broken silver clasp found in Emily's bedroom.
"What does it open?"
"Nothing."
"Then what?"
"It's not a key."
Margaret walked to a desk and opened a drawer.
She removed a small magnifying lens.
"The clasp contains a micro-etched coordinate sequence."
Richard stared.
"Coordinates to the ledger?"
"Part of it."
"Part?"
Margaret looked afraid.
"The ledger was divided into three sections."
"Who has the others?"
"I had one."
"Had?"
"Someone stole it last night."
Richard felt cold.
"Who knew you were here?"
Margaret answered softly.
"Only three people."
"Katherine is dead."
"Yes."
"Emily didn't know."
"No."
"Then who's the third?"
May you like
Margaret looked directly at him.
"Your brother Thomas."
