Michael refused to use the front entrance, insisting that Bell would expect them to leave through the same route they entered. Behind the building was a narrow alley filled with trash containers and old delivery crates. Jason moved first, followed by Eleanor and Thomas, while Michael remained several steps behind.<\/p>\n
When they reached the street, the black sedan was gone.<\/p>\n
That frightened Michael more than if it had remained.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn't need to stay,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n
Jason looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause now he knows where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
They returned to the hotel before opening the notebook again. Michael insisted that no photographs be taken of the pages.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel believed digital copies could be traced,\u201d he explained. \u201cHe trusted paper because paper doesn't announce where it has been.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first section of the notebook contained dates from more than twenty years earlier.<\/p>\n
Daniel had recorded hospital admissions, newborn transfers, and discrepancies in medical files.<\/p>\n
One entry stopped Eleanor cold.<\/p>\n
A child's name had been erased from a hospital registry.<\/p>\n
Beside it Daniel had written:<\/p>\n
TRANSFERRED WITHOUT PARENTAL CONSENT.<\/p>\n
Below that was another sentence.<\/p>\n
BELL SIGNED THE AUTHORIZATION.<\/p>\n
Jason looked at Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew this existed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Daniel was documenting it. I didn't know how much he had.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael turned several pages.<\/p>\n
Then they found the reference to Sophie.<\/p>\n
Her name was not written directly.<\/p>\n
Instead, Daniel had used a coded entry.<\/p>\n
S.P.<\/p>\n
Protected.<\/p>\n
Jason felt his stomach tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would my father protect Sophie?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's what you have to find out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas stared at the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Sophie have been one of the children moved?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Michael said. \u201cNot necessarily. Daniel may have protected her because she was connected to someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor remembered Margaret's strange behavior. She remembered how Margaret had once looked at Sophie with an expression that seemed almost like recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Margaret?\u201d Eleanor asked.<\/p>\n
Michael's face became guarded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew more than she admitted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who does?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael didn't answer immediately.<\/p>\n
Finally, he said, \u201cRichard Bell.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room fell silent.<\/p>\n
Jason turned another page.<\/p>\n
A handwritten note appeared in Daniel's handwriting.<\/p>\n
MARGARET KNOWS ABOUT THE SECOND LEDGER.<\/p>\n
Thomas leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel believed Bell kept two sets of records. One was designed to survive an audit. The other contained the real transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTransactions?\u201d Eleanor asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cPayments,\u201d Michael replied. \u201cTransfers. Favors. Names.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd where is the second ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael pointed to the notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel never wrote that down.\u201d<\/p>\n
A knock came at the hotel door.<\/p>\n
Everyone froze.<\/p>\n
Three knocks.<\/p>\n
Then silence.<\/p>\n
Jason slowly approached the door.<\/p>\n
He looked through the peephole.<\/p>\n
No one stood outside.<\/p>\n
He waited.<\/p>\n
Another knock came.<\/p>\n
This time from the connecting room.<\/p>\n
Thomas stepped backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two doors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason opened the connecting door.<\/p>\n
The hallway beyond was empty.<\/p>\n
On the floor lay a brown envelope.<\/p>\n
There was no name on it.<\/p>\n
Inside was a single photograph.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
Standing outside the hospital.<\/p>\n
Beside him was Margaret Bell.<\/p>\n
And behind them, partially hidden by a parked vehicle, stood Emily.<\/p>\n
Eleanor stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael took the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may not have known what she was seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the back, written in red ink, were six words.<\/p>\n
ASK HER ABOUT THE NIGHT DANIEL DIED.<\/p>\n
Jason immediately called Emily.<\/p>\n
She answered on the fourth ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cJason?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you alone?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason's expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily whispered a name.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call ended.<\/p>\n
Jason immediately stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe're going back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael grabbed his coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife is with the woman who disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor stepped between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Margaret came to Emily willingly, she may finally be ready to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr she's being used.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hotel room phone rang.<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at it.<\/p>\n
Jason answered.<\/p>\n
A man's voice said only one sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel never died when you were told he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went dead.<\/p>\n
Michael closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Jason stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael slowly sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means the story you were given about your father's death was false.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor felt the weight of those words settle over the room.<\/p>\n
For years, Daniel had been a dead man.<\/p>\n
A memory.<\/p>\n
A photograph.<\/p>\n
A collection of unanswered questions.<\/p>\n
Now, suddenly, even his death was uncertain.<\/p>\n
Jason looked at the notebook.<\/p>\n
Then at the photograph.<\/p>\n
Then at Michael.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut once I start, you won't be able to pretend this is only about your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jason answered quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt stopped being only about my family a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael refused to use the front entrance, insisting that Bell would expect them to leave through the same route they entered. Behind the building was a narrow alley filled with … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-readmore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3942"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3957,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3942\/revisions\/3957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/readstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}