Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Photograph
The woman in the photograph was named Claire Monroe.
I learned that at 4:17 in the morning.
I learned it from a federal database.
I learned she had once worked for Prescott Holdings.
And I learned she disappeared six years ago.
The same week my husband died.
Emily sat across from me while Reyes pulled up her records.
“She's twenty-nine,” Emily said.
“Was twenty-nine.”
Reyes looked at me.
“Her age when she disappeared.”
“Where is she now?”
“No known location.”
“Family?”
“Mother died years ago. Father deceased.”
“So no one.”
Reyes paused.
“That isn't what I said.”
I studied the photograph.
Claire was standing beside David.
They looked close.
Too close.
I wanted to be angry.
Instead, I felt confused.
David had never given me a reason to doubt him.
Or perhaps I'd simply never looked closely enough.
“What did the recording mean?” Emily asked.
Reyes replayed it.
David's voice.
“She's not your wife anymore.”
Margaret's answer was almost inaudible.
“She doesn't know.”
Then static.
Then nothing.
Emily stared at me.
“What if Dad wasn't talking about you?”
“I don't understand.”
“What if Margaret was threatening someone else?”
Reyes paused.
“That is possible.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“Colonel Hart?”
“Yes.”
“You need to stop looking for me.”
I froze.
“Claire?”
Silence.
Then:
“How do you know my name?”
“Because you're in my husband's files.”
“Then you know enough.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Are you alive?”
“Yes.”
“Did my husband know you?”
“Yes.”
“Did he have an affair with you?”
She hesitated.
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
“Then what were you?”
Claire's voice trembled.
“He was trying to keep me alive.”
My heart pounded.
“From the Prescotts?”
“From people above them.”
“Who?”
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Why did General Vale send your husband to the Prescott estate?”
The call ended.
Reyes stared at me.
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“I need the recording.”
“You have it.”
We traced the call.
Burner.
Charlotte.
No useful location.
Reyes cursed under his breath.
Emily looked at me.
“What does she mean by people above them?”
“I don't know.”
But I had a suspicion.
I returned to the file.
There was a corporate structure.
Prescott Holdings.
Thirty-seven subsidiaries.
Ten shell companies.
Three defense contractors.
And one entity registered in Delaware.
Meridian Strategic Consulting.
I knew that name.
It had been attached to an advisory board I had once served on.
I stared at the screen.
“Who owns Meridian?”
Reyes checked.
“Unknown.”
“That's impossible.”
“Not for shell companies.”
He searched deeper.
A beneficial owner appeared.
Hidden behind three trusts.
I looked at the name.
General Thomas Vale.
I stepped away from the table.
“Reyes.”
“I see it.”
My phone buzzed.
A photograph arrived.
David.
Claire.
And General Vale.
Together.
Standing inside the Prescott estate.
The timestamp was from six years ago.
A second message arrived.
YOUR HUSBAND DIDN'T DIE.
I stared.
“What?”
Emily grabbed my arm.
“What does it say?”
I showed her.
Her eyes widened.
“Mom.”
Reyes took the phone.
“Could be psychological manipulation.”
“Could be.”
Then another message.
LOOK AT THE PERSON BEHIND THEM.
We zoomed in.
At first, it looked like a shadow.
Then Reyes enhanced the photograph.
A fourth person appeared.
A woman standing behind David.
Older.
Dark hair.
A scar above her eyebrow.
Emily suddenly stopped breathing.
“Who is that?”
I looked at her.
“You know her?”
May you like
Emily whispered:
“She was in the blue room.”
