Chương 6
If everything around her had suddenly looked different, if the sky had darkened or the streets had emptied, she might have believed she had crossed into some kind of story where people knew they were characters.
But nothing had changed.
Only she had.
"Why did he call Evelyn?" Mara asked.
Henry opened the passenger door but did not step out.
"Because he wants to know what she knows."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It does if Thomas believes information is something he owns."
Mara looked at him.
"You talk about him like you know him well."
Henry looked down.
"I did."
"How well?"
The question stayed between them.
Henry's hand remained on the door handle.
"Well enough to know he never needed to threaten people."
"Why?"
"Because he made them believe he was helping."
Mara thought about the name.
Thomas Vale.
The foundation.
The photographs in newspapers.
The awards.
The speeches.
She hated how easy it was for a person to exist in several versions at once.
A person could be admired by thousands and still be someone else's nightmare.
"Did Laura work for him when she disappeared?"
Henry nodded.
"She was his assistant."
"An assistant at a charity foundation?"
"At first."
Mara noticed the phrase.
At first.
"What changed?"
Henry looked toward Evelyn waiting near the library doors.
"She started asking questions."
"About what?"
"Money."
The word was simple.
Almost disappointing.
But Mara knew enough about people to understand that money was rarely just money.
It was power.
It was fear.
It was the reason people stayed silent and the reason some people believed they could never be touched.
"What kind of questions?"
Henry stepped out of the car.
"You need to hear this from her."
Mara followed him.
"Laura?"
"No."
He looked at her.
"Someone else."
They walked toward the library entrance.
Evelyn was pacing when they reached her.
Daniel stood beside the brick wall, staring at his phone without actually looking at it.
Rebecca sat on a bench, her arms folded tightly.
The moment Henry approached, Evelyn stopped.
"Thomas said Laura left something behind."
Henry's face tightened.
"What?"
"He said he found it."
"Where?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
"Why call you?"
Evelyn looked uncomfortable.
"Because he wanted me to bring everyone together."
Mara looked at her.
"Why?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"He said the truth belongs to everyone now."
Henry laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
"That is exactly how he talks."
Daniel pushed away from the wall.
"You're making him sound like some kind of mastermind."
Henry looked at him.
"No."
"Then what?"
"Someone who knows how to make people feel like they chose something."
Daniel looked away.
Mara noticed that.
A small reaction.
Almost invisible.
But something about Henry's words had touched a place Daniel did not want examined.
"Where is this apartment?" Rebecca asked.
Evelyn looked at her.
"You heard him."
"I heard him say he found something."
"And?"
"And if he has something Laura left behind, waiting around seems stupid."
Henry looked at Rebecca.
"You don't know what you're walking into."
She gave a tired smile.
"Neither do you."
The response surprised him.
For a moment, he looked almost offended.
Then he looked older.
Mara wondered how many times people had told him that over the years.
How many times he had heard the truth and decided he could survive without it.
"We need to see the apartment," Daniel said.
"No," Henry replied.
Daniel looked at him.
"You don't get to decide that."
"I know."
"Then why are you acting like you do?"
Henry looked toward the library windows.
"I am trying to keep you alive."
Daniel stepped closer.
"You don't even know me."
Henry's expression changed.
A small crack.
"I know enough."
"How?"
The old man did not answer.
Mara saw Evelyn notice it too.
Another unanswered question.
Another piece of something buried.
She was beginning to understand that Henry's silence was not empty.
It was crowded.
The apartment was on the third floor of an older building downtown.
Not abandoned.
Not hidden.
Just forgotten.
That made it worse.
The building had a bakery on the first floor and a dentist's office above it.
People lived normal lives around a place where someone had apparently left behind twenty years of unanswered questions.
Mara stayed in the hallway while Evelyn unlocked the door.
She expected dust.
She expected decay.
Instead, the apartment looked like someone had left recently.
Not lived there.
Prepared.
The furniture was covered.
The walls were empty.
The air smelled faintly like old paper.
"Thomas had access?" Daniel asked.
Evelyn nodded.
"He said he purchased the building last year."
Henry stopped.
"What?"
Everyone looked at him.
"He bought the building?"
"Yes."
Henry stared at the apartment door.
Mara watched the realization settle over him.
Not surprise.
Calculation.
"Why would that matter?" she asked.
Henry stepped inside slowly.
"Because Thomas doesn't buy places."
"What does he do?"
"He collects them."
Mara almost dismissed the statement as paranoia.
Almost.
Then she saw the way Henry looked around.
Not like someone remembering a home.
Like someone recognizing a trap.
Evelyn walked toward the living room.
"There."
A box sat on the floor near the bookshelf.
Plain brown cardboard.
No label.
No lock.
No reason it should matter.
Which usually meant it did.
Daniel moved toward it.
Henry stopped him.
"Don't."
Daniel looked back.
"Why?"
"Because that's what he wants."
Nobody touched the box.
Mara hated how quickly they had all learned to distrust ordinary things.
Evelyn crouched beside it.
"Maybe you're wrong."
"Maybe."
"That is not very convincing."
Henry looked at her.
"I was wrong twenty years ago too."
The sentence quieted everyone.
Evelyn reached for the box.
This time Henry did not stop her.
Inside were folders.
Photographs.
A small digital recorder.
And a notebook with a blue cover.
Mara felt Henry change before he touched anything.
"Laura had that."
Evelyn looked up.
"You recognize it?"
Henry nodded.
"She carried it everywhere."
Daniel picked up the recorder.
May you like
"It still works."
Henry looked at him.
