"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I know Marianne searched your mother's house after the funeral. I know she searched it again two years later. And I know she never found what she was looking for."
Julian stepped back.
His father had left something behind.
His mother had known where it was.
And Marianne Voss had been searching for it ever since.
Mara returned, her expression grim.
"We have a location."
Julian turned.
"Sophie?"
"Possibly. The emergency vehicle assigned to her protection detail was spotted on a traffic camera near the old Eastbridge rail terminal."
"How far away?"
"Twenty minutes from here."
"Let's go."
Mara caught his arm.
"Wait. The attorney general has authorized an independent response team. We're not going in without them."
"Every minute matters."
"And walking into another trap won't help Sophie."
Julian looked at her.
He hated that she was right.
He took one breath, then another.
"All right. But we're not waiting any longer than necessary."
Mara nodded.
They left the courthouse with a team of state investigators, taking the evidence recovered from the underground chamber with them.
Before getting into the vehicle, Julian looked back at the courthouse windows.
For twenty-three years, the building had stood as a symbol of the system that had condemned his father.
Tonight, it had become the place where that system began to collapse.
But the most dangerous person in the conspiracy remained free.
And she knew exactly how to reach him.
At 12:31 a.m., Julian's phone rang again.
An unknown number.
He answered immediately.
"Where is my daughter?"
A young woman's voice responded.
"Mr. Reed? My name is Officer Lena Morris. I was assigned to Sophie's protective detail."
"Where is she?"
"I'm sorry. We were ordered to transfer her to another location. The authorization came from a senior state security administrator."
"Who signed it?"
"I didn't see the original signature. The order came through our dispatch system."
"Then why are you calling me?"
"Because the transfer vehicle never arrived at the destination."
Julian felt his stomach tighten.
"What do you mean?"
"We lost contact with the escort unit twenty minutes ago. Their tracking signal disappeared near the Eastbridge terminal."
"Was Sophie in that vehicle?"
"Yes."
Julian closed his eyes.
"Do you know who ordered the transfer?"
"Not yet. But I saved a copy of the dispatch record before my terminal was locked."
"Send it to Mara Vega. Use the secure channel."
"I already did."
Julian looked across the vehicle.
Mara was examining her tablet.
Her expression darkened.
"I have it," she said.
She enlarged the document.
The transfer order bore the electronic authorization of a state security administrator named Peter Lang.
Julian recognized the name.
Lang had previously worked under Marianne Voss in the department's professional standards division.
Mara checked the authorization history.
"This is bad."
"What?"
"The order was approved using Lang's credentials, but his account was accessed from a device registered to the Westbridge Police Department."
"Can you identify the device?"
"I'm trying."
She tapped the screen several times.
Then she stopped.
"Julian."
He leaned closer.
The access location appeared beneath the record.
WESTBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT β COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE.
Neither of them spoke.
Then Mara said, "Marianne didn't just know where Sophie was. She had access to the system controlling her protection."
Julian's hands curled into fists.
"Then we stop trusting the system."
He looked toward the driver.
"Take us to Eastbridge."
The old Eastbridge rail terminal had been closed for twelve years.
Once, it had carried thousands of commuters into the city every morning. Now its platforms lay empty beneath a roof of rusted steel, and weeds grew between the tracks.
Rain began falling as the state vehicles approached.
Their headlights swept across abandoned freight cars and cracked concrete.
Julian stepped out before the lead vehicle had fully stopped.
"Sophie!"
His voice echoed beneath the terminal roof.
No answer.
Mara joined him, followed by four state investigators.
They moved toward the main platform.
Near the far end, a black transport van stood beside a maintenance building.
Its rear doors were open.
Inside lay a discarded security jacket, a broken radio, and a length of plastic restraint.
Julian felt a terrible pressure building in his chest.
Mara crouched beside the radio.
"The battery is still warm."
"How long ago did they leave?"
"Recently."
One of the investigators called from the maintenance building.
"We've found something!"
Julian hurried inside.
A phone lay on the floor beside a wooden crate.
He recognized it immediately.
Sophie's phone.
He picked it up with shaking hands.
The screen was cracked, but a message remained visible.
It had been sent to him three minutes earlier.
DAD, I'M NOT AT THE SAFE HOUSE. DON'T TRUST ANYONE FROM THE DEPARTMENT.
Below the message was a second line.
THEY SAID THEY KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO GRANDPA.
Julian stared at the screen.
Sophie had discovered something.
Something that connected her abduction to his father's case.
Before he could process it, a sound came from behind the crates.
A quiet sob.
Julian turned.
"Sophie?"
A small figure stepped out of the shadows.
His daughter was alive.
Her hands were trembling, and her face was pale, but she was standing.
He crossed the room in seconds and pulled her into his arms.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
He held her as tightly as he dared, afraid that if he loosened his grip, she might disappear again.
"I'm here," he whispered. "I've got you."
Sophie buried her face against his shoulder.
"I was so scared."
"I know."
"They told me you were a criminal. They said you were going to prison and that I would never see you again."
Julian closed his eyes.
"Who told you that?"
Sophie pulled back.
"A woman."
"What woman?"
She hesitated.
"She said her name was Marianne."
Mara stepped closer.
"Did you see her clearly?"
Sophie nodded.
"She was wearing a dark coat. She had silver hair. She didn't look angry."
"Did she hurt you?"
"No. But she kept asking me questions about Grandma Margaret."
Julian felt his blood run cold.
"What questions?"
"She asked whether Grandma ever gave me anything to keep."