“You don’t understand what they’ll do if this gets out.”
“I understand exactly why you came here at midnight.”
She reached toward the envelope. He pulled it away.
Then Jack said, “Lisa thinks I’m leaving early tomorrow to cover a shift. I’m not. I’m meeting Miriam at the state office at eight. Nolan forced his way into the meeting, but Miriam set it up through official channels. Once I’m there, I’m safe.”
That sentence matters to me now. He was not walking blindly into danger. He believed the meeting itself protected him. He had no idea Nolan already knew the time and route before he even left.
Karen whispered, “Then don’t go tomorrow.”
Jack stared at her carefully. “What did you hear?”
She shook her head quickly. “Nothing. I heard nothing.”
But she was already backing away.
Then she left.
Jack stepped closer to the camera and leaned toward it.
He looked exhausted.
“Lisa,” he said, “the envelope in the garage is the house copy. It’s not the real copy. Look where Melissa hides her birthday cards. Tuesday is the day. If I don’t come home, call Miriam. Do not sign anything from Nolan.”
Then the screen went black.
Tuesday was the day of the meeting.
The day he died.
I walked upstairs so quietly I could hear my own heartbeat.
Melissa was asleep curled around the stuffed rabbit Jack won for her at the county fair. I reached for the shoebox where she kept all the birthday letters he wrote to her every year.
Underneath the cards, taped to the bottom, was a silver flash drive.
Tuesday.
I plugged it into my laptop.
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