Chapter 25 - The Name in the Ledger
Reed requested that another federal investigator take control of the room.
No one asked him to do it.
That made Mia trust him slightly more.
The ledger entry connected Samuel Reed to a sealed protective operation from seventeen years earlier. His signature appeared nowhere, but his badge number had been assigned before he joined the department.
Nora examined the dates.
“You were still in college.”
“My father worked for the county,” Reed said.
Kyle smiled.
“Ask what happened to him.”
Reed’s jaw tightened.
“He died in an accident.”
“No body?” Mia asked.
“A body was recovered.”
Kyle’s smile disappeared.
“Then Northbridge learned from its earlier mistakes.”
Reed moved toward him, but Mia stepped between them.
“Do not give him what he wants.”
Reed stopped.
He told them the truth he had withheld.
Years earlier, Thomas Hayes had contacted him anonymously. Thomas warned that one day a woman named Mia Mercer might report financial fraud involving her family.
“He asked me to make sure the case was not dismissed as a private dispute,” Reed said.
“You knew Thomas was alive?” Nora demanded.
“I heard his voice. I had no proof of his identity.”
“And you never told us.”
“I believed revealing the contact would put Mia at greater risk.”
Mia looked from Reed to Nora.
Everyone in the room had hidden something in the name of protection.
The result had always been another trap.
The black strip contained coordinates beside Reed’s entry.
They led to an abandoned medical facility near the river.
Security footage from a traffic camera showed a woman entering the property six hours earlier.
The image was blurred, but Mia recognized Evelyn’s coat.
Reed remained behind while another team accompanied Mia, Nora, and Eva.
The facility was empty when they arrived.
A cup of tea remained warm.
Fresh tire tracks crossed the rear parking area.
On a treatment-room wall, someone had written a message.
HE IS YOUR FATHER.
THAT DOES NOT MAKE HIM SAFE.
Beneath it was a date.
Mia’s birthday.
A tablet on the floor activated.
Old delivery-room footage began to play.
Evelyn lay holding two newborn girls.
May you like
Behind her, a curtain moved.
For one second, the camera revealed the edge of a third infant crib.
