Chapter 4 - The Storage Unit Nobody in My Family Mentioned

Richard denied owning a storage unit for exactly forty seconds.

Then the investigator showed him the registration record.

Unit 214. Lakeshore Climate Storage. Automatic payment from a checking account bearing his name.

Richard rubbed both hands over his face.

"I forgot about it."

Brianna laughed once.

It was not amusement.

"You forgot a storage unit?"

"Your mother handles those things."

Denise's eyes flashed. "Don't put this on me."

Natalie watched the fracture open.

For years, Richard and Denise had moved as a single force whenever the subject was Natalie. One criticized; the other justified. One demanded; the other minimized.

Now neither knew what the other had done.

That mattered.

The investigators asked Richard for consent to access the unit.

He refused.

They left to obtain proper legal authority.

General Ellison called Natalie while she waited.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm functional."

"That isn't what I asked."

Natalie leaned against the kitchen counter and closed her eyes.

"I don't know yet."

"Good answer."

She almost smiled.

He told her the academy had temporarily frozen external access to the Aegis Field project while logs were reviewed. Natalie would still report to her new assignment, but she would not touch the research until cleared.

"Am I suspended?"

"No."

"Under investigation?"

"Everyone with access is being reviewed."

That distinction mattered, but not enough to stop the fear tightening her stomach.

Ellison seemed to hear it in her silence.

"Reed, do not confuse scrutiny with guilt."

She looked toward the living room where her father paced.

"I spent most of my life doing that."

"Then stop now."

The call ended.

Three hours later, legal authority was approved.

Natalie was not permitted inside the storage unit during the initial search, but she waited in the facility office with Brianna while Richard and Denise sat at opposite ends of the lobby.

Rain ticked against the windows.

Brianna stared at the floor.

"I really didn't know."

Natalie did not ask what she meant.

After a minute, Brianna continued.

"About the laptop. I swear."

"I know you didn't see it in the picture."

"That's not what I mean."

Natalie turned.

Brianna's mascara had smudged beneath one eye.

"Mom asked me to use your room yesterday."

Natalie went still.

"For what?"

"She said the light was better for pictures."

"Why would she want you in my room?"

"I don't know. I didn't think about it."

Of course she had not.

Brianna swallowed. "She gave me the laptop."

Natalie felt the air leave her lungs.

"She said it was Dad's old work laptop and I could use it to preview photos."

"Did you open files?"

"No. I connected my phone to transfer pictures. That's it."

"Did she ask you to?"

"Yes."

That was not an accident.

Natalie sat back.

"Did you see her use the laptop?"

Brianna hesitated.

"Once. Last week."

"Doing what?"

"I don't know. She was at the kitchen table. When I came in, she shut it."

Richard heard enough from across the room to stand.

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

Brianna stared at him.

"You never ask me questions unless the answer is about you."

Richard flinched.

Natalie almost did too.

It was the first honest thing Brianna had ever said to him in front of her.

An investigator entered the lobby carrying an evidence bag.

Inside was Natalie's laptop.

Mud stained one corner.

The charging cable had been wrapped around it.

"We found this in the unit."

Natalie stood.

"What else?"

The investigator looked at Richard and Denise before answering.

"Financial records. Personal documents belonging to Captain Reed. Several boxes labeled Lucy Reed."

Natalie's hearing narrowed.

"My mother's things?"

"Yes."

Richard closed his eyes.

Natalie turned on him.

"You told me they were lost when we moved."

He said nothing.

"All of them?"

Still nothing.

She remembered being thirteen and asking where her mother's journals had gone. Richard had said the moving company misplaced boxes. Denise had told her clinging to possessions would keep her from healing.

They had stored them eleven miles away.

The investigator continued.

"We also found a network hotspot. That's how the laptop was accessed today."

"By who?"

"We'll determine that."

Denise stood abruptly.

"I need a lawyer."

The sentence changed the room.

Richard looked at her.

Brianna looked at her.

Natalie felt strangely calm.

Denise picked up her purse.

The investigator said, "You're free to contact counsel."

She walked toward the exit.

Brianna called after her.

"Mom."

Denise did not stop.

"Did you take Natalie's folder?"

Denise's hand froze on the door.

She turned slowly.

For one second, her face was not angry.

It was afraid.

Then she said, "You don't understand what you're asking."

Brianna whispered, "Then explain it."

Denise opened the door.

"I can't."

She left.

The investigator's phone rang.

He listened, then looked at Natalie.

"Forensic review just found remote-access software installed on your laptop."

Natalie's stomach tightened.

"How long?"

"At least eight months."

"Who installed it?"

"We're tracing that."

He paused.

"But the admin account used to control it has a recovery email."

Richard sat down hard.

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The investigator read the address aloud.

It belonged to Denise.