Chapter 6: The Voice on the Phone
"Your husband has been lying to you from the beginning.""
The words stayed in the room after the call ended.
I stared at the dead screen.
James didn't move.
Neither did I.
For several seconds, the only sound was the faint hum of the refrigerator.
Then I looked up.
"What does that mean?""
James' eyes stayed on mine.
"I don't know.""
I almost laughed.
"You don't know?""
"Not in the way he meant it.""
"Then explain.""
He stepped toward me.
I stepped back.
That tiny movement changed his face.
It hurt him.
Good.
I wanted him to understand, even for one second, what it felt like to have the ground disappear beneath me.
"You told me Colonel Reed was trustworthy.""
"He is.""
"He just told me not to trust you.""
"He could be compromised.""
"You said that about Daniel.""
"I said Daniel might have been compromised.""
"And my mother?""
He said nothing.
"And Lauren?""
Nothing.
I could feel my pulse in my fingertips.
"James, I need one straight answer.""
He waited.
"Did you lie to me about anything?""
His silence was so long that I thought I already had my answer.
Finally, he said, "Yes.""
My breath caught.
"About what?""
"Several things.""
The room seemed to tilt.
I grabbed the edge of the desk.
"Start talking.""
James looked toward the window.
He didn't look like a husband trying to calm his wife anymore.
He looked like a soldier deciding how much information could safely be released.
That scared me more.
"The night before I deployed, Daniel came to our house.""
"You admitted that.""
"He wasn't alone.""
I stared at him.
"Who was with him?""
"Lauren.""
"Why?""
"She had a key.""
I frowned.
"Why would Lauren have a key to our house?""
"Because she asked for one while you were pregnant.""
I shook my head.
"I never gave her one.""
"I did.""
My mouth fell open.
"Why?""
"She said you wanted her to have emergency access in case you went into labor.""
"I never said that.""
"I know.""
The answer was quiet.
Too quiet.
"So you gave my sister a key without asking me?""
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Because Daniel told me she was already involved.""
"Involved in what?""
He hesitated.
"The money.""
My eyes dropped to the document on the desk.
"The eighteen thousand dollars?""
"Some of it.""
"How much?""
"I don't know.""
"You're lying again.""
"No.""
"You've known about this for months.""
"Yes.""
I turned away from him.
Outside, rain tapped against the windows.
My mother had been taken.
A stranger knew our address.
Someone had been watching our house.
My sister had a gun.
My husband had hidden a safe beneath our floor.
And now Colonel Reed had called him a liar.
I pressed my hands against my stomach.
"I can't do this.""
James' voice softened.
"You don't have to do it alone.""
I looked at him.
"But I have been alone.""
His face tightened.
"I know.""
"No, you don't.""
I picked up the photograph from the desk.
"You were gone for six months. I was here. Every night. Every doctor's appointment.
Every fever. Every time Emma wouldn't stop crying. I was here.""
"I know.""
"You don't get to come home and decide what I can handle.""
"I don't.""
"Then stop making decisions for me.""
He nodded.
"You're right.""
Again.
No defense.
No anger.
Just acceptance.
That almost made me more furious.
"Tell me about the safe.""
James sat down.
"The data I copied was evidence of an internal network.""
"Inside the military?""
"Inside a contracted security operation.""
"So Daniel was investigating civilians?""
"Some were civilians. Some weren't.""
"And my mother?""
"Her account appeared in the records.""
I looked at the document.
"What did she do?""
"Transferred money.""
"To whom?""
"Several accounts.""
"Why?""
"We don't know.""
"You suspected her.""
"I suspected she was being used.""
"How?""
"Because the transfers were structured in a way that hid the final recipients.""
I frowned.
"What does that mean?""
"Money went from your mother's account to Lauren's. Then Lauren's account paid a company. That company paid another company. Eventually the money ended up overseas.""
I stared at him.
"How much?""
"More than eighteen thousand.""
"How much?""
James didn't answer.
"How much?""
"Two hundred and forty thousand dollars.""
I couldn't speak.
My father's face suddenly came back to me.
The way he had said, I don't know everything.
The way he'd looked at Lauren.
The way my mother had stopped answering her phone.
"This is impossible.""
"I wish it were.""
"Where did my mother get that kind of money?""
"That's what I was trying to find out.""
"Did she steal it?""
"I don't know.""
"Did Lauren?""
"I don't know.""
"Did you?""
James looked at me.
"No.""
For the first time, his answer came instantly.
I believed that answer.
But then something occurred to me.
"Why was Lauren at our house the night before you deployed?""
James' expression changed.
"She came to warn me.""
"About what?""
"Daniel.""
"What did she say?""
"She told me Daniel had discovered the person controlling the money transfers.""
"Who?""
"She didn't know.""
"Then why did she have the key?""
"Because she wanted to get inside before Daniel arrived.""
"Why?""
James looked down.
"She thought there was something hidden in the house.""
My heart began racing again.
"What?""
"A ledger.""
I stared at him.
"Did you find one?""
"No.""
"Then where is it?""
"I don't know.""
A sharp knock came from the front door.
We both froze.
Three knocks.
Slow.
Deliberate.
James stood immediately.
"Stay here.""
"No.""
"Anna.""
"I'm not hiding in a room while someone walks around my house.""
He glanced toward the hallway.
"Then stay behind me.""
He moved quietly toward the front door.
I followed.
The knocking stopped.
James looked through the peephole.
Nobody.
He opened the door a few inches.
The porch was empty.
Then he looked down.
A small package sat on the welcome mat.
No name.
No address.
Nothing written on it.
He closed the door and locked it.
"What is it?""
"I don't know.""
He carried it into the kitchen and set it on the counter.
There was no tape.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a folded sheet of paper and a key card.
He read the note.
His face hardened.
"What?""
He handed it to me.
*Your mother isn't at the church.*
Below that:
*She never was.*
My hands trembled.
The next line was worse.
*She is at the place where James Walker kept the original evidence.*
I looked up.
"Where?""
James stared at the key card.
"I thought that location was destroyed.""
"James.""
He turned it over.
A printed address was on the back.
I recognized it.
The old Walker family warehouse.
It had belonged to his father.
James had told me years ago that it had been sold.
"Your father owned this?""
"Yes.""
"You said it was sold.""
"It was.""
"But this address is still active.""
"I know.""
"How?""
He looked at the card again.
"Because I was there six months ago.""
My stomach dropped.
"You went there before you deployed?""
"Yes.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because I found something.""
"What?""
James looked at me.
"The original ledger.""
The room went silent.
I stepped closer.
"Then why did you say you didn't know where it was?""
"Because I didn't know whether it was still there.""
"Is it?""
He didn't answer.
"James.""
He finally said, "The person who took your mother wants us to think she's there.""
"Why?""
"Because the ledger is there.""
I stared at him.
"So they have my mother because they want the ledger.""
"Maybe.""
"And you have the key.""
"Yes.""
"Then they need us to open something.""
He nodded.
I looked at the key card again.
There was a number printed below the magnetic strip.
*17*
"What's seventeen?""
James' expression changed.
"Locker 17.""
"At the warehouse?""
"Yes.""
"What is in it?""
"I don't know.""
"That's not true.""
He looked away.
"You've been there.""
"Yes.""
"And you opened it.""
He remained silent.
My voice shook.
"What was inside?""
James' eyes met mine.
"Nothing.""
I didn't believe him.
"James.""
"I opened it once. It was empty.""
"Then why are you afraid of it?""
He didn't answer.
The kitchen lights suddenly went out.
I gasped.
The whole house dropped into darkness.
James immediately grabbed my hand.
"Don't move.""
Something scraped against the back window.
Once.
Twice.
Then three quick taps.
My breathing stopped.
James pulled his phone from his pocket and switched on the flashlight.
The beam swept across the kitchen.
Nothing.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
*Locker 17 isn't empty.*
Another message appeared.
*Look behind you.*
I turned before James could stop me.
At the far end of the kitchen, the pantry door was open.
It had been closed.
I was certain of it.
James raised his phone.
"Stay behind me.""
He walked toward the pantry.
I followed anyway.
The door creaked wider as he approached.
Inside, shelves of canned food stood exactly where they'd always been.
Except the floor panel beneath the bottom shelf was lifted.
James crouched.
There was a dark space underneath.
And inside it was another envelope.
He pulled it out.
My name was written across the front.
But underneath my name were three words.
*For Anna. Alone.*
James looked at me.
"Don't open it.""
"Why?""
"Because whoever left this knew we'd find it.""
Before I could answer, something slid underneath the front door.
A white piece of paper.
James went still.
I picked it up.
There was only one sentence.
*You have one hour to choose which truth you want to save.*
Then, beneath it, a photograph.
My mother.
Alive.
Tied to a chair.
Sitting in a room I had never seen.
But on the wall behind her was a sign.
*WALKER WAREHOUSE — LOCKER 17*
James stared at the picture.
Then at the key card.
His phone buzzed one final time.
*Come alone, Captain. Bring Anna's faith in you.*
James slowly lowered the phone.
I looked at him.
"You said you wanted to protect me.""
He nodded.
"Yes.""
I held up the photograph.
"Then you're coming with me.""
His eyes hardened.
"No.""
May you like
And for the first time that night, he gave me an order.
"Anna, you are staying here.""
