Rachel Reed stepped out of Victor Mercer\u2019s SUV with both hands raised.
\nShe did not run toward her son.
\nShe did not call Caleb\u2019s name.
\nShe stood beneath the rain while two police officers approached her, and the black vehicle waited behind them with its engine running.
\nCaleb pressed both hands against the garage window.
\n\u201cMom.\u201d
\nHe reached for the door.
\nI caught his shoulder.
\n\u201cWait until the officers say it\u2019s safe.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s my mother.\u201d
\n\u201cI know.\u201d
\n\u201cShe\u2019s alive.\u201d
\nHis voice broke on the final word.
\nOutside, Detective Ortiz ordered the driver of the SUV to turn off the engine.
\nInstead, the vehicle reversed.
\nAn officer moved toward it, but the SUV swung around and accelerated down the street.
\nThe police captured the license plate before it disappeared.<\/p>\n
Rachel watched it leave.<\/p>\n
Only then did her shoulders collapse.<\/p>\n
Detective Ortiz searched her coat and checked the small bag she carried.<\/p>\n
When she finished, she looked toward the music room and nodded.<\/p>\n
Caleb opened the door before I could stop him.<\/p>\n
He ran into the rain.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom!\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel turned.<\/p>\n
For one second, she remained completely still.<\/p>\n
Then she wrapped both arms around her son.<\/p>\n
Caleb buried his face against her shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou left me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you were coming home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere were you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel looked toward the police officers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pulled away from her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you with Victor?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel\u2019s silence answered.<\/p>\n
Caleb stepped back as if she had struck him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou went to him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaleb\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou left me a note and disappeared. Then you came back in his car.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he wanted you to see me arrive with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make you doubt me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
He walked back into the music room.<\/p>\n
Rachel closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
Rain ran down her face like tears she was refusing to release.<\/p>\n
Detective Ortiz guided her inside.<\/p>\n
The moment Rachel saw Dad\u2019s guitar on the worktable, she stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou opened the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Victor knows too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe already knew Caleb had the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel looked sharply at her son.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you still have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb pointed toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGive it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
Her eyes met mine for the first time.<\/p>\n
She looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
There were dark circles beneath her eyes, and a bruise ran around one wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Victor believes the key is here, everyone in this house is in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why the police are here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police were there seventeen years ago too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Ortiz pulled out a chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cSit down, Ms. Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel remained standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are not taking anything until you tell us where you have been,\u201d the detective said.<\/p>\n
Rachel looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may still be watching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason closed the final curtain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen let him watch a wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel sat across from Caleb.<\/p>\n
He refused to look at her.<\/p>\n
Detective Ortiz activated a recorder and placed it on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cBegin with Tuesday morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel clasped her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt eight thirty, I received a message from Victor\u2019s private number. It contained a photograph of Caleb leaving for school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb\u2019s anger gave way to fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no time. Victor wrote that if I wanted you to remain safe, I had to meet him at Mercer Tower.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you went alone?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you call the police?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the last time my family trusted an investigation, my husband died the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her words silenced the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened when you reached the tower?\u201d Detective Ortiz asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor\u2019s security team took my phone. They brought me to his office on the twenty-eighth floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he threaten you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never uses direct threats. He showed me photographs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaleb at school. Caleb at the grocery store. Caleb asleep on the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb\u2019s face drained of color.<\/p>\n
Rachel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I had hidden everything well enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let them follow me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know until Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Victor want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key to box 214.\u201d<\/p>\n
I touched the key through the fabric of my pocket.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did he know you had it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knew?\u201d Detective Ortiz asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel. William Harlow. The bank officer who created the access agreement. And me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was the bank officer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin Keene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow had not arrived yet.<\/p>\n
I wrote the name on a piece of paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor kept you for four days?\u201d Mason asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe moved me from the tower to a guesthouse outside the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you free to leave?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo men stood outside the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not freedom,\u201d Detective Ortiz said.<\/p>\n
Rachel rubbed the bruise around her wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Thursday night, I tried to get past them. One grabbed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need photographs of that injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened today?\u201d the detective continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor came to the guesthouse. He said Caleb had taken the guitar and boarded a bus. He knew exactly which bus and where Caleb had gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb stared at the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe offered me a deal,\u201d Rachel continued. \u201cHe would bring me here. I would persuade Ethan to open box 214 and give me what was inside. Then Caleb and I could leave the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you believed him?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you agree?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause agreeing brought me back to my son.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb finally looked at her.<\/p>\n
Rachel leaned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not return in Victor\u2019s car because I chose him. I returned because it was the only door he opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb\u2019s face softened, but he did not move closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did Victor call us before you arrived?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo frighten you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said where you were depended on my cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wanted you to believe he still had me. Then he wanted me to arrive in his vehicle so you would not know whether to trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mason shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe created two stories at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what Victor does,\u201d Rachel said. \u201cHe gives everyone a different version and waits for them to turn against each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought of Cheryl.<\/p>\n
Speak first.<\/p>\n
Make everyone else sound like a liar.<\/p>\n
Victor and Cheryl had built power in the same way.<\/p>\n
But Victor had been doing it much longer.<\/p>\n
The front door opened.<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow entered with two uniformed officers behind him.<\/p>\n
The moment Rachel saw him, she stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou promised Daniel you would tell Ethan if anything happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Daniel told me you would make contact if Victor approached you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThree months after Daniel died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never received a call.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI spoke to a woman in your office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat woman?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said you were in court. I gave her my name and told her it concerned Victor Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she return your call?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cDescribe her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw her. Her name was Evelyn.\u201d<\/p>\n
He sat down slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn Price was my assistant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe resigned six months after Daniel\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did she go?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe became legal affairs director for the Mercer Foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
Dad\u2019s warning returned to me.<\/p>\n
Do not assume that everyone who protected him the first time is gone.<\/p>\n
Victor did not only have money.<\/p>\n
He had people placed behind desks.<\/p>\n
Inside offices.<\/p>\n
Answering phones.<\/p>\n
Deciding which messages reached the truth and which disappeared.<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow looked toward the key.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to notify the bank immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor wants us to open the box.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat does not mean we leave the evidence unprotected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand. He cannot access it himself. Daniel arranged the box so that only he or I could enter. After Daniel\u2019s death, Ethan became the successor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how does Victor know it still exists?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel looked toward Caleb.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat mistake?\u201d her son asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix months ago, I accepted a job in Victor\u2019s records department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb stood so quickly that his chair fell backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou worked for him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed access to his archived projects.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me you worked for Mercer Property Management.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is one of his companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou lied to me every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to prove what happened to your father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb stepped away from the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said Dad\u2019s death was an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was what I needed you to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. That was what you needed to believe I believed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCaleb\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let me think he died because someone forgot to inspect a cable. Now you\u2019re saying Victor killed him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m saying Victor falsified the safety reports that allowed that crane to remain in operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know whether he personally ordered your father\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you think he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The word barely left her mouth.<\/p>\n
Caleb turned away.<\/p>\n
I understood his anger.<\/p>\n
Truth given too late can feel like another betrayal.<\/p>\n
Rachel continued speaking to Detective Ortiz.<\/p>\n
\u201cI spent months copying internal emails and archived payments. Last week, Victor\u2019s security director caught me accessing files from the project where Thomas died. I escaped the building before he could stop me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that why you disappeared?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. I intended to retrieve the ledger and take everything to a federal investigator outside this city.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you take Caleb with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I believed Victor did not know where we lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow removed his phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m calling First National\u2019s emergency security line. We will freeze all access until a court order is issued.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bank may already be compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why we document the call.\u201d<\/p>\n
He placed it on speaker.<\/p>\n
After several transfers, a security manager answered.<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow identified himself and provided the trust account information.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need an immediate restriction placed on safe-deposit box 214,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one is to access it without law-enforcement authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
The manager typed something.<\/p>\n
Then he stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Harlow, are you certain you have the correct box?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBox 214 was accessed yesterday afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel went completely still.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho entered it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to the record, Ethan Whitmore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been to that bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
The manager continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe visitor presented a driver\u2019s license, successor-beneficiary documents, and a notarized authorization bearing Mr. Whitmore\u2019s signature.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
Another forged signature.<\/p>\n
Cheryl had used my identity for debt.<\/p>\n
Now someone else had used it to steal evidence connected to a dead man.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he have the key?\u201d Mr. Harlow asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. He claimed it had been lost. The access was approved by a senior bank officer, and the lock was drilled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich officer?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cMartin Keene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long was the visitor inside the vault?\u201d Detective Ortiz asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cApproximately eleven minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have security footage?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPreserve it immediately,\u201d she said. \u201cDo not allow anyone to copy, delete, or modify it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The security manager agreed to send still images through an encrypted police address.<\/p>\n
Less than ten minutes later, Detective Ortiz\u2019s phone chimed.<\/p>\n
She opened the first photograph.<\/p>\n
A young man wearing a baseball cap stood at the bank counter.<\/p>\n
His head was lowered.<\/p>\n
His face was partly hidden.<\/p>\n
In the second image, he looked directly toward the camera.<\/p>\n
He was close to my age.<\/p>\n
His hair was darker than mine, and he had a scar running from his temple to his jaw.<\/p>\n
Rachel leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is he?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrian Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor\u2019s son?\u201d Mason asked.<\/p>\n
Rachel nodded.<\/p>\n
Adrian Mercer rarely appeared in public.<\/p>\n
Victor told reporters his son lived overseas and wanted nothing to do with the family business.<\/p>\n
Apparently, that was another story designed to hide the truth.<\/p>\n
Detective Ortiz opened the third photograph.<\/p>\n
Adrian was leaving the bank.<\/p>\n
In his right hand, he carried a red leather ledger.<\/p>\n
Rachel reached for the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original ledger?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen Victor has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrian hates his father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was the one who helped me access Victor\u2019s archived files.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent again.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrian was helping you?\u201d Detective Ortiz asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor six months.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did he impersonate Ethan and take the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb stepped closer to the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he tell Victor about me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he tell Victor where you were?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you trust him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel stared at Adrian\u2019s image.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Harlow\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n
The number was blocked.<\/p>\n
He answered on speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cWilliam Harlow.\u201d<\/p>\n
A younger man spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut Ethan on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Ortiz motioned for everyone to remain silent.<\/p>\n
I moved closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Adrian Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the ledger?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomewhere my father cannot reach it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you use my name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Martin Keene would never have opened that box for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou committed identity fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI stopped Victor from reaching it first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could have contacted us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know which one of you had betrayed Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel flinched.<\/p>\n
Adrian continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor knows the ledger was removed. By morning, he will blame Ethan publicly. By Monday, he will report Rachel for stealing company records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I heard him arranging it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Rachel\u2019s evidence?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger is safe for tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happens tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat depends on whether your father left you enough information to understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Dad\u2019s guitar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ledger proves Victor stole money. It does not prove he killed Thomas Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb moved beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat proves that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian heard him.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaleb, your father made a recording the night before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother never mentioned a recording.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t know it exists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rachel stared at the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat recording?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas hid it somewhere Victor could never enter without being recognized.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Rialto Theater.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the old building near the river.<\/p>\n
It had been closed for more than a decade.<\/p>\n
Last month, Mercer Development announced plans to demolish it and build luxury apartments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe demolition begins Monday morning,\u201d Adrian said. \u201cIf Thomas\u2019s recording is still inside, you have less than thirty-six hours to find it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell us where it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know the exact location.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how are we supposed to find it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel wrote one sentence inside the ledger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat sentence?\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian\u2019s voice lowered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is beneath the place where Ethan first learned to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
The call disconnected.<\/p>\n
I stared at Dad\u2019s guitar.<\/p>\n
I had never learned to play at the Rialto Theater.<\/p>\n
I had learned in our garage.<\/p>\n
Then Rachel looked at the initials carved into the guitar and whispered, \u201cHe doesn\u2019t mean you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She touched Caleb\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas played guitar too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caleb shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Rachel said. \u201cBefore you were born, your father performed every Friday night at the Rialto.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside, another car slowed near the house.<\/p>\n
This time, it did not stop.<\/p>\n
Detective Ortiz picked up her radio and ordered an officer to follow it.<\/p>\n
Rachel looked at the clock.<\/p>\n
The Rialto was scheduled to be demolished in thirty-six hours.<\/p>\n
Somewhere beneath its abandoned stage was a recording made by a man the night before he died.<\/p>\n
A recording Victor Mercer had spent seventeen years trying to destroy.<\/p>\n
And now Victor knew we were looking for it……<\/p>\n
PART 6 \u2014 THE WOMAN WHO RETURNED WITH THE ENEMY Rachel Reed stepped out of Victor Mercer\u2019s SUV with both hands raised. She did not run toward her son. She … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4112,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4102\/revisions\/4112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nexttaleus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}