Chapter 9 - August 22
Emma opened the door alone.
Nathan Hale stood on the porch.
Two men waited behind him.
He smiled.
"Late night."
Emma leaned against the doorframe.
"What do you want?"
"We received an alert about suspicious activity."
"From whom?"
"Your security company."
"I don't have one."
Hale's smile remained.
"Then perhaps the alert was mistaken."
Emma stared at him.
Behind her, Dawson was hidden inside a narrow attic access space above the upstairs hallway.
It was not ideal.
But neither was prison.
Hale glanced past Emma.
"May we come in?"
"No."
"Major."
"Former."
"We're trying to protect you."
"You're doing badly."
His expression cooled.
"Threats have been made against your daughter."
"How do you know?"
"We monitor credible risks."
"The message came directly to me."
"We have access to certain telecommunications intelligence."
Emma let the silence become uncomfortable.
Hale shifted.
"Where is Lily?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Safe."
"We can provide secure accommodation."
"No."
Hale stepped closer.
"Emma, you're dealing with people you don't understand."
She almost smiled.
"You keep saying things like that because you want me to ask who the scary people are."
"I'm trying to help."
"No. You're trying to establish the size of your shadow."
For the first time, irritation showed.
"Daniel is alive because of us."
"Then let me see him."
"He's cooperating."
"Let me hear him say that."
"You will."
"When?"
"When it's safe."
"For whom?"
Hale stared at her.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
A tiny speck of dirt.
From Dawson's shoe.
His eyes lifted toward the staircase.
Emma saw the thought arrive.
She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
Hale looked at her.
"Something wrong?"
"I'm tired."
"So are we."
"Then go home."
One of the agents behind him reached toward his jacket.
Hale stopped him with a tiny gesture.
"Tomorrow," Hale said, "you'll be contacted by an attorney regarding Daniel's legal status."
"Good."
"I recommend cooperation."
"I recommend returning with a warrant."
Hale smiled again.
"You haven't changed."
Emma's heart stopped for half a beat.
"Have we met?"
The smile disappeared.
"Good night, Major."
He walked away.
Emma did not move until the vehicles left the street.
Then she locked the door.
Dawson climbed down fifteen minutes later.
"You heard him," Emma said.
"Yes."
"He said I haven't changed."
Dawson nodded.
"Maybe figure of speech."
"No."
She stared through the dark window.
"He knows me personally."
"Voss probably told him about you."
"Maybe."
Emma turned.
"August 22, 2017."
Dawson's expression changed.
"You know it?"
"I know the date."
"What happened?"
"My final deployment ended August 22."
Dawson stared.
Emma continued.
"I returned home unexpectedly."
She remembered Daniel's reaction.
He had been stunned.
Then relieved.
Or she had thought it was relief.
That night he insisted they go to a hotel because the house had a plumbing problem.
Emma had laughed.
They had taken Lily, eaten room-service pizza, and spent the night watching movies.
The following morning, Daniel returned home alone before Emma and Lily.
At the time it seemed meaningless.
Now...
"Something happened at my house."
Dawson said nothing.
Emma immediately drove to Warren's property.
Police tape still covered the side entrance.
The basement remained an active crime scene.
Brooks met her outside.
"You can't go in."
"I don't need to."
"Then why are you here?"
Emma looked at Warren's detached garage.
"Where's Warren?"
"Released pending investigation."
"Rachel?"
"Same."
"Marcus?"
"Charged with assault, released on bond."
Emma almost laughed.
Three dangerous people, all free.
"What are you looking for?"
"Old property records."
Brooks frowned.
"At three in the morning?"
"Warren renovated my old house."
"What?"
"When Daniel and I bought it, Caldwell Development handled the renovation."
Brooks understood.
"You think there's something there."
"I think Daniel's message says Warren knows what happened on August 22."
Her old marital home had been sold years earlier.
A young couple now lived there with two children.
Police obtained consent to inspect the basement after Emma explained.
At five forty-two, Ramirez found the false wall.
It was behind an old utility cabinet.
Inside was a narrow cavity.
Empty.
Almost.
One object remained.
A child's red plastic bracelet.
Emma recognized it.
Lily had worn it constantly when she was two.
Emma stared.
Brooks whispered, "Why would this be inside a wall?"
Emma could not answer.
Then Ramirez called from deeper inside the cavity.
"There's writing."
Emma moved closer.
Scratched into the wooden frame were several words.
D.C. knows.
Voss knows.
If Emma comes home early, abort.
And below that:
22 AUG 17.
Brooks looked at Emma.
"This was an operation."
Emma stared at her daughter's bracelet.
"No."
May you like
She finally understood.
"It was supposed to happen to us."
