Chapter 5 - What Emily Owed Harlan

Emily did not run.

That frightened Catherine more than if she had.

She stood beneath the old terminal clock with her hands open at her sides while David's voice waited through the prepaid phone.

"How do you know about the blue address?" he asked again.

Emily swallowed.

"Because I lived there."

Catherine stared at her.

Marco lowered the gun a fraction.

David said, "When?"

"Twelve years ago. For eleven days."

"You told us the safe-house fire happened in Trenton."

"It did. After Harlan moved me."

Catherine stepped closer.

"Start at the beginning."

Emily looked at her with exhausted eyes.

"There isn't time."

"You have taken seven months of my time already. Give some back."

Emily flinched.

"Harlan found me when I was twenty-four. I was using the identity your father gave me, David. He had proof Mara Vale was alive. He threatened to expose the sealed case and everyone connected to it."

David's voice was hard.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because he had photographs of you at college. Of your mother leaving work. He said if I ran, he would make sure the people from the old ring knew where we all were."

"So you worked for him."

"At first, yes."

"How long?"

Emily looked at Catherine.

"Three years."

Catherine felt sick.

"And later?"

"Later I thought I was free. Then David started investigating false insurance deaths and Harlan realized he was getting close."

David said, "You told me the task-force leaks were coming from an analyst named Pierce."

"Because Harlan ordered me to."

"Pierce died."

Emily's face crumpled.

"I know."

Catherine looked at Marco.

"David's first partner?"

Marco nodded slowly.

David was silent.

Then he said, "Aaron Pierce was my investigative partner."

Catherine had heard the name once, years earlier, when David told her a former coworker had died in a boating accident.

"Another accident," she whispered.

"Not an accident," David said.

Marco's jaw set.

"And this is where Alessandro enters."

Emily looked at him.

"Tell her."

Marco did not answer.

"Tell her," Emily repeated.

Catherine turned toward him.

"What happened?"

Marco's eyes stayed on the terminal entrance.

"Pierce approached one of Alessandro's shipping managers. He threatened to expose a smuggling route. Alessandro ordered men to scare him off."

"Scare him how?"

"Damage his boat. Leave a warning."

David's voice came from the phone.

"The boat sank."

Marco nodded.

"It wasn't supposed to leave the dock. Someone repaired enough of the cut fuel line to make it look safe, then Pierce took it out."

Catherine felt anger rise.

"And Alessandro knew?"

"Not until after."

"Did he turn in the men responsible?"

"No."

"Then Harlan was right about one thing."

Marco did not defend his employer.

"Yes. Alessandro bears responsibility."

David spoke quietly.

"That's why I never trusted Romano."

"But you worked with him anyway," Catherine said.

"Because Harlan was worse, and because Alessandro eventually gave me the records proving who altered the boat after his men left."

"Who?"

"Dr. Pritchard's brother. He handled maintenance for the marina and worked for Harlan."

Emily closed her eyes.

"Aaron died because I sent him toward the wrong suspect."

David said, "Harlan killed him because he learned the truth."

"I still sent him."

"Both can be true."

Catherine looked at the three adults and felt suddenly tired of secrets disguised as protection.

"Here is what happens now. Nobody makes another decision for me. Nobody decides what I can handle. Nobody moves Logan without telling me why."

Marco nodded.

Emily whispered, "Okay."

David said, "Cath—"

"Especially you."

A pause.

"Okay."

Catherine held up the pages from locker seventeen.

"The blue address. What is it now?"

Emily answered.

"A private rehabilitation center on paper. In reality, it's a holding site. Harlan keeps witnesses there under false names. Some are threatened. Some are paid. Some are people he officially declared dead."

Catherine stared at her.

"David, could your ledger be there?"

"No. Pritchard moved it."

"Could there be witnesses who can prove the system?"

"Yes."

Marco said, "Then Harlan will expect us to go there."

"Which is why we don't," David said.

Catherine studied the address.

"What if we do something else?"

Marco looked at her.

"Such as?"

"I go back to work."

Everyone objected at once.

"No," David said.

"Absolutely not," Emily said.

Marco simply shook his head.

Catherine raised her voice.

"Harlan already knows I was at the hospital. He knows I left with Logan. If I disappear, he knows I believe Romano. If I return publicly and act confused, he may think I ran because I panicked."

"He won't," Emily said.

"Why?"

"Because Harlan never assumes panic. He assumes strategy."

"Then what would surprise him?"

Emily thought.

"You asking him for help."

Catherine stared at her.

"Explain."

"Harlan needs to know what Romano told you. If you call Harlan crying and say criminals are threatening you, he will come personally. He cannot resist controlling the narrative."

David's voice sharpened.

"No. Catherine is not bait."

She looked at the phone.

"You made me bait the day you disappeared without telling me why. At least this time I choose it."

"Cath."

"Can Harlan be recorded legally?"

Emily nodded.

"New Jersey is one-party consent. You can record a conversation you're part of."

Marco said, "A confession is unlikely."

"I don't need a confession," Catherine replied. "I need him to reveal something only someone inside the scheme would know."

David was quiet.

"Such as the ring."

"Exactly."

Catherine looked at Emily.

"Can you clone the prepaid phone into a recorder?"

"I can set it to stream encrypted audio to multiple locations."

"Do it."

Marco frowned.

"Where do you meet Harlan?"

Catherine already knew.

"My house."

David said, "No."

"It's the place where he thinks he has the advantage."

"That's why no."

"And it is wired with a doorbell camera he has probably already accessed. If he sees me arrive with Logan, he'll think I'm desperate."

Marco said, "Logan does not go inside."

"Agreed."

Catherine looked at Emily.

"You take him somewhere Harlan can see me hand him to you?"

Emily hesitated.

"If he recognizes me as Mara, everything changes."

"Then Marco takes him."

Marco shook his head.

"Harlan knows me."

David said, "Nora."

Catherine blinked.

"The nurse?"

"She helped you at the hospital. Harlan won't connect her to the old case yet."

"I'm not dragging Nora deeper into this."

"Ask. Let her choose."

Catherine hated how reasonable that sounded.

Emily worked on the phone while Marco contacted Nora through a secure line. Ten minutes later, Nora agreed to meet at a twenty-four-hour diner near Catherine's neighborhood.

"She said one condition," Marco reported.

"What?"

"She gets to tell you this is the stupidest plan she has ever heard."

"Accepted."

They left the terminal separately. Emily took the documents. Marco drove Catherine and Logan.

At the diner, Nora slid into the booth and glared at all of them.

"This is the stupidest plan I have ever heard."

"Condition fulfilled," Catherine said.

Nora looked at Logan.

"He stays with me the entire time?"

"Yes."

"And if anything feels wrong, I leave?"

"Immediately."

Nora looked at Marco.

"You do not follow me."

"Agreed."

"You do not put a tracker on my car."

Marco hesitated.

Nora pointed at him.

"I mean it."

"Fine."

"That pause was disturbing."

Catherine almost smiled again.

Then she called Harlan.

He answered before the second ring.

"Catherine?"

She forced her breathing to shake.

"Detective Harlan, I don't know what is happening."

His voice became instantly warm.

"Where are you? Are you safe?"

"I got away from them."

"From Romano's people?"

"Yes. They kept saying David was alive. They showed me a ring."

A pause.

Just long enough.

"What ring?"

Catherine looked at Emily, who nodded at the recorder.

"David's wedding ring."

Harlan exhaled.

"Catherine, listen to me. Romano is manipulating you. That ring was taken from evidence after the crash."

Her eyes widened.

He had made the mistake.

Catherine whispered, "Evidence?"

"Yes."

"But you told me the ring was never recovered."

Silence.

Marco slowly raised his eyes.

Emily mouthed, Keep going.

Harlan recovered smoothly.

"I may be confusing it with another personal item. It has been months."

"Can you come to my house?"

"Of course."

"Alone?"

Another pause.

"If that makes you feel safer."

"It does."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Catherine ended the call.

David's voice came through the encrypted secondary connection.

"He knew the ring had been in evidence."

"Yes."

Emily looked unsettled instead of pleased.

"Too easy."

Marco agreed.

"He wanted to say it."

Catherine felt her stomach tighten.

"Why would he want me to know?"

Emily stared at the table.

"Because this isn't about finding out what you know anymore."

"Then what is it about?"

Emily's phone vibrated.

A photo appeared from an unknown sender.

It showed Dr. Pritchard tied to a chair in an empty room, alive and terrified. Beside him stood a digital clock counting down from 01:58:42.

Under the photograph was one sentence.

BRING CATHERINE TO THE BLUE HOUSE OR DAVID WINTERS DIES WITH THE LEDGER.

Catherine looked at Emily.

"Harlan doesn't want information."

Marco's face hardened.

"He wants an exchange."

David's line had gone silent.

"David?" Catherine said.

No answer.

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"David?"

The connection clicked off.