Chapter 9 - The Name Evan Was Afraid to Say
Daniel entered the interview room before Detective Quinn could stop him.
Evan looked up.
The guilt on his face was immediate.
Daniel placed Emily’s letter on the table.
“You know who killed her.”
Evan stared at the handwriting.
“I didn’t know she wrote that.”
“Say the name.”
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“Say it.”
Evan looked toward Quinn.
She closed the door and remained beside it.
“This is your opportunity,” she said. “Do not waste it.”
Evan covered his face.
“The man who damaged Emily’s brakes was named Thomas Reed.”
Daniel waited.
The name meant nothing to him.
“Who is he?”
“A former military mechanic. He worked as a Warden for the Meridian Circle.”
“Who ordered him?”
“Marcus.”
“And who ordered Marcus?”
Evan’s silence gave the answer.
Daniel’s voice became quiet.
“Victoria.”
“Yes.”
The room blurred around Daniel.
He had imagined hearing the truth many times since discovering the video.
He had thought it would bring rage.
Instead, he felt an enormous emptiness.
Emily had been hunted by her own mother.
Her final drive had not been an accident.
It had been an execution.
“Where is Thomas Reed now?” Quinn asked.
“I was told he died two years ago.”
“Told by whom?”
“Marcus.”
“Did you see proof?”
“No.”
Quinn placed the hospital security image on the table.
The masked man’s posture and tattoo were visible.
“Could this be Reed?”
Evan studied it.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
The man who had killed Emily may have stood beside Lily’s hospital bed.
“Why would Emily write that you knew?” Daniel asked.
“She confronted me the day she died. She had seen the tracker.”
Daniel’s breathing slowed.
“What did you tell her?”
“I told her Victoria wanted the files.”
“Did you warn her about the brakes?”
“I didn’t know for certain.”
“Did you warn her someone might hurt her?”
Evan’s eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
Daniel turned away.
“I called her later,” Evan said desperately. “I tried to tell her not to drive.”
“Did she answer?”
“No.”
“Did you call the police?”
“I thought Marcus was only trying to frighten her.”
“You thought what you needed to think.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
Daniel faced him again.
“You went to her funeral. You carried her coffin. You hugged Lily while she cried. And every day afterward, you knew.”
“I was ashamed.”
“You were afraid.”
“Yes.”
“Fear does not make you innocent.”
Evan lowered his head.
“I know.”
Detective Quinn interrupted.
“Where can we find Thomas Reed?”
“There was a property used by the Circle outside the city. An abandoned rehabilitation center called Grayhaven.”
Daniel recognized the name.
Emily had mentioned researching it weeks before her death.
At the time, she claimed it was part of a charitable housing proposal.
Quinn assembled a tactical team.
Grayhaven stood nearly forty miles north, surrounded by forest and a rusted fence.
Records showed the property had been owned by a foundation subsidiary until two years earlier.
Its electricity account remained active.
Before leaving, Daniel returned to the hospital.
Lily was drawing at a small table.
She looked up.
“Are you going somewhere?”
“I need to help the police find the man who came into your room.”
“Is he bad?”
“Yes.”
“Did he hurt Mom?”
Daniel hesitated.
Lily lowered her pencil.
“Grandma said Mom crashed because she was careless.”
“Mom was not careless.”
“Then Grandma lied?”
“Yes.”
Lily looked at her drawing.
It showed Emily standing beside a yellow house.
“Will you come back tonight?”
Daniel knelt beside her.
“I will do everything I can.”
She handed him the stuffed fox.
“You can take Felix.”
“You need him.”
“You need him more.”
Daniel hugged her.
Inside the elevator, he noticed something hard beneath the fox’s fabric.
The lining had been opened during the hospital search, but the intruder had apparently missed a second seam.
Daniel carefully examined it.
A small metal object was hidden inside.
A silver pendant shaped like a star.
On the back, Emily had engraved a series of numbers.
Quinn looked at the pendant.
“A code?”
“Maybe.”
Daniel turned it over.
The numbers matched Lily’s birth date followed by six additional digits.
May you like
Margaret recognized them as coordinates.
They pointed to a location less than a mile from Grayhaven.
