Chapter 9 - The Uncle Who Knew the Route
My uncle had spent twenty years explaining away other people's failures.
At family dinners, he described himself as a consultant with friends in every branch of government.
I had never known the details of his work.
Now his name appeared beside the coordinates that nearly killed Ethan's team.
I took photographs of the pages only after Dad agreed and Naomi approved how they would be preserved.
The originals stayed with him until appropriate custody could be arranged.
“Why Dean?” I asked.
Dad pressed a trembling finger against the paper.
“He carried the update.”
“Did he change it?”
“I don't know.”
That answer disappointed me and reassured me at once.
My father was not inventing certainty to satisfy my fear.
He was telling me the limit of his knowledge.
Ethan remained in the hall until Dad invited him inside.
The two men studied each other for a long moment.
“You were on the mountain,” Dad said.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then she saved you too.”
Ethan nodded.
“Every day since.”
Dad's face crumpled.
He had been told I was a disgrace.
Now a stranger who had trusted me with his life stood beside his chair.
Before we left, the director quietly confirmed a concern.
Judith had repeatedly requested that Dad's contact with outside visitors be restricted.
The director had challenged the requests whenever Dad was able to express his own wishes.
Naomi arranged a formal review of the guardianship documents.
On the highway back, a black sedan followed our car for seventeen miles.
It changed lanes whenever we did.
Ethan read the plate aloud while I called the nonemergency law-enforcement line and followed the dispatcher's guidance.
The sedan eventually turned off.
We did not chase it.
At Naomi's office, a new email awaited us.
The subject read: IF YOU WANT THE ORIGINAL MAP, COME ALONE.
Attached was a photograph of Dean entering a records warehouse the previous evening.
The sender claimed to be Tyler.
May you like
But the final line warned that Tyler was not acting alone.
