Mara stopped.
"You were watching me."
Daniel nodded.
"Sometimes."
"From where?"
"Across the street."
She laughed bitterly.
"That is not protection."
"No."
He looked at her.
"It's cowardice."
Mara didn't expect him to say it.
Daniel continued.
"I was afraid."
"You?"
"Yes."
He looked at his hands.
"I spent five years running from people who had murdered others without hesitation. But the truth is, the hardest thing I ever did was stand across the street from our house and not walk through the door."
Mara's anger softened.
"But you came back."
"I had to."
"Why now?"
Daniel looked toward the window.
"Because they found the final file."
"What file?"
"The one I never told you about."
He reached into his coat.
He removed a photograph.
Mara looked at it.
A man stood outside a warehouse.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Mara recognized him.
"That's Governor Whitmore."
Daniel nodded.
"He wasn't governor then."
"What does he have to do with Voss?"
"Everything."
Daniel explained that Voss wasn't the head of the entire operation.
He was one part of it.
Money moved through companies controlled by wealthy businessmen.
Political campaigns received donations.
Officials received favors.
Police received promotions.
Witnesses disappeared.
And anyone who got too close was destroyed.
But one person had been trying to expose it.
Governor Whitmore.
Five years earlier, he had been a state senator.
He had secretly contacted Daniel.
He wanted evidence.
Daniel had provided it.
Then Whitmore disappeared from the investigation.
Mara frowned.
"Why?"
"Because he was threatened."
"By Voss?"
"By someone higher."
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"The man behind everything was Arthur Bell."
Mara recognized the name.
Bell was one of the richest developers in the state.
His company owned hospitals, hotels, trucking firms, and construction companies.
"He's untouchable."
"That's what he believes."
Daniel looked at Mara.
"And that's why they came after you."
"Because of the hard drive?"
"No."
He reached into the motorcycle jacket.
"There is another key."
Mara stared.
"Another one?"
Daniel placed it on the table.
This key was silver.
Older.
Heavily scratched.
"What does it open?"
"An underground archive beneath the Briar County courthouse."
Mara's eyes widened.
"Why would there be an archive?"
"There used to be a records room beneath the courthouse. Officially, it was sealed after a flood."
"And unofficially?"
"That's where they kept everything they couldn't put on computers."
Mara stared at the key.
"How do we get inside?"
Daniel smiled.
"We don't."
Mara frowned.
"Then what?"
"We make them open it."
Later that morning, Elena returned.
She carried two phones.
"Federal agents are on the way."
Mara exhaled.
"Good."
Elena shook her head.
"Not good."
"Why?"
"They've been delayed."
"By whom?"
Elena looked at Miller.
"Someone in Washington."
Mara felt cold.
"How high does this go?"
"High enough."
Miller stepped forward.
"I can get you into the courthouse."
Mara looked at him.
"Why should I trust you?"
"You shouldn't."
He removed his badge.
He placed it on the table.
"But you can trust what I'm about to do."
Mara stared at the badge.
Miller looked at Daniel.
"I spent five years wearing this while pretending I still deserved it."
He pushed it away.
"Tonight, I stop pretending."
Daniel nodded.
"We go tonight."
At 11:30 p.m., the four of them entered the courthouse.
Rain hammered the roof.
Mara carried a flashlight.
Daniel carried the silver key.
Miller led them through the basement.
They stopped in front of a brick wall.
Mara looked confused.
"There is no door."
Miller pointed at an old electrical panel.
"Move it."
Daniel did.
Behind it was a steel lock.
He inserted the key.
Click.
A section of the wall moved.
A staircase descended into darkness.
Mara looked at Daniel.
"You've been here before?"
"Once."
"What happened?"
"I found something."
"What?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Proof that my disappearance was planned."
They descended.
At the bottom was a long concrete corridor.
Steel cabinets lined the walls.
Boxes filled the floor.
Names were written on them.
Judges.
Police officers.
Businessmen.
Politicians.
Mara walked slowly.
Then she saw one.
BENNETT, DANIEL.
She opened the box.
Inside was a file.
Her hands shook.
The first page was a photograph of Daniel.
The second was his employment record.
The third was a death certificate.
But the death certificate had been prepared three days before Daniel's supposed accident.
Mara stared.
"They knew."
Daniel nodded.
"They planned my death before I disappeared."
Then another file fell from the box.
Mara picked it up.
It contained a list.
At the bottom were three names.
MARA BENNETT.
ELENA PRICE.
THOMAS MILLER.
Beside each name was a date.
Mara looked at the date beside hers.
Tomorrow.
She looked at Daniel.
"They're coming for us."
A sound echoed down the corridor.
Footsteps.
Miller raised his gun.
Daniel whispered:
"Too late."
The lights went out.
The Last Ride
The darkness lasted three seconds.
Then emergency lights came on.
Red.
Mara saw figures at the end of the corridor.
Five men.
Armed.
Caleb Voss stood in the middle.
He wasn't wearing the baseball cap now.
His face was calm.
Almost bored.
"You should have stayed dead, Daniel."
Daniel stepped forward.
"You should have stayed hidden, Caleb."
Voss smiled.
"Still dramatic."
Mara stood beside Daniel.
Voss looked at her.
"Mrs. Bennett."
"You vandalized my motorcycle."
"Yes."
"You killed my husband."
Voss laughed softly.
"No."
Mara's face hardened.
"He did that himself."
Daniel stared at him.
"You didn't kill me because you needed the evidence."
"Correct."
"You killed everyone else."
Voss's expression changed.
"They were careless."
Mara felt sick.
Voss looked around.
"You found the archive."
He shook his head.
"People always make the same mistake."
"What mistake?"
"They think information is power."
Mara said:
"No."
She stepped forward.
"People are power."
Voss looked at her.