Chapter 9: The Dead Man's Photograph
Renee stared at the photograph until the edges of the terminal seemed to blur.
Marcus Bell was alive.
The man who had supposedly died more than a year earlier was sitting beside Simone in a brightly lit room, his hair slightly longer, his face thinner, but unmistakably his.
Aaliyah saw the picture over Renee's shoulder.
For a moment, she made no sound.
Then she reached for the phone.
"That's Daddy.""
Nia caught her hand gently.
"Baby, let me see.""
Renee turned the screen toward her.
Nia's knees buckled.
Damon caught her before she fell.
"No," Nia whispered.
"No, that can't be real.""
But her eyes never left the photograph.
Marcus wore the same silver wedding band she had buried in a box of his belongings. His left eyebrow still carried the tiny scar from a childhood accident. Even the crooked smile was familiar.
"Where did this come from?"" Damon asked.
Renee checked the message details.
No number.
No sender.
Only a timestamp from three minutes earlier.
Beneath the photograph was a single sentence.
*BRING AALIYAH TO SAFEHOUSE TWELVE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH.*
Renee immediately locked the screen.
"No one is taking Aaliyah anywhere based on an anonymous message.""
Aaliyah looked up at her.
"But Daddy's alive.""
"I know what the photograph shows.""
"Then why aren't we going?""
"Because we don't know who's sending it or whether it's current.""
Aaliyah's eyes filled.
"You said you would help me.""
"I will.""
"You promised!""
The word struck Renee harder than any accusation.
She lowered herself to the girl's eye level.
"You're right. I promised to protect you. And I'm going to keep that promise. But protecting you doesn't mean walking into a place where someone might be waiting to hurt you.""
Aaliyah stared at her for several seconds.
Then she nodded reluctantly.
Nia wiped her cheeks.
"We need to call the hospital.""
Renee looked at her.
"Which hospital?""
"St. Agnes. If Simone was discharged, there should be a record.""
"Unless the record was altered.""
"Then we'll find the original.""
Damon shook his head.
"They altered the transfer order, the death report, and Renee's vehicle log. What makes you think the hospital records will be any different?""
"Nothing," Nia replied.
"But we can't sit here waiting for another message.""
Renee raised her radio.
"Dispatch, confirm the status of Detective Harris and Officer Price.""
Static answered.
She tried again.
"Dispatch, this is Officer Carter. Respond.""
Nothing.
Officer Brooks stepped closer.
"My radio is dead too.""
Her partner looked at his device.
"Mine as well.""
Renee scanned the terminal.
The departure boards were functioning normally. Travelers were moving again. An employee behind the information booth was helping a family with their tickets.
But all three police radios had gone silent at the same time.
Renee's phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
*YOU HAVE BEEN DISCONNECTED FROM YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM.*
A second message followed.
*NOW COME ALONE.*
Damon looked over her shoulder.
"They want you to go to the safehouse.""
"Yes.""
"Then don't.""
Renee glanced at him.
"I wasn't planning to.""
Nia looked at the photograph again.
"What if Marcus really is alive?""
Renee didn't answer immediately.
She wanted to believe it.
Aaliyah deserved to see her father again. Nia deserved to know whether the man she had mourned was still alive. And Renee deserved the truth about the night that had haunted her memory.
But a photograph could be old, manipulated, or deliberately staged.
The message could be bait.
And someone had gone to extraordinary lengths to get Aaliyah into that terminal.
Renee turned to Officer Brooks.
"Can you contact another unit using your phone?""
Brooks shook her head.
"No signal. Neither does my partner.""
"Try the station's emergency desk.""
Brooks hurried toward the information booth.
Renee remained with Nia, Damon, and Aaliyah.
Then she noticed something in the photograph she hadn't seen before.
Behind Marcus, on a white wall, was a small clock.
Its hands showed 9:14.
She zoomed in.
The clock had a distinctive crack across the glass, running from the number two toward the center.
Renee recognized it.
She had seen that clock before.
Not in a hospital.
Not in a photograph.
In the transit authority building.
The same building listed on the altered vehicle log.
"There's no way," she whispered.
Damon leaned closer.
"What?""
"This photograph was taken inside the transit authority building.""
Nia looked at her sharply.
"How can you tell?""
"The clock. I've seen it in the operations room.""
Damon stared at the image.
"Then Marcus was there when they said he was dead.""
"Possibly.""
Nia shook her head.
"He was alive when they moved him.""
Renee looked at the timestamp again.
Three minutes earlier.
The image could have been transmitted recently, but the clock alone didn't establish when it had been taken.
She enlarged the photograph further.
On Marcus's wrist was a hospital identification band.
The printed date was small, but visible.
It matched the night of his supposed death.
Renee felt a chill move through her.
"This wasn't taken recently," she said.
"It's from that night.""
Aaliyah's face fell.
"Then Daddy might still be dead?""
Renee crouched beside her.
"I don't know, sweetheart.""
The honesty hurt, but she couldn't offer a promise she couldn't keep.
Aaliyah looked at the photograph again.
"Can I see the other side?""
"What other side?""
She pointed to Marcus's left hand.
"That ring.""
Renee enlarged the image.
Marcus wore his wedding band on his left hand, but a small strip of paper had been tucked beneath it.
The paper carried a handwritten number.
*1214.*
Damon inhaled sharply.
"That's not a room number.""
"What is it?"" Renee asked.
"An access code.""
"For what?""
"The transit authority's secure archive. Marcus helped install the old system before he began investigating the data leaks.""
Renee looked toward the station's information screens.
"Can the archive contain the original transfer records?""
"If the system was never fully wiped.""
"Where is the archive?""
Damon hesitated.
"Inside the operations building.""
Renee looked at Nia.
"Can you get us access?""
Nia shook her head.
"I don't have credentials.""
"Who does?""
"Simone.""
Renee looked at the photograph again.
"Then we need to find her.""
Damon pointed to the message.
"They're telling us to go to Safehouse Twelve.""
"Which might be a trap," Renee replied.
"But Simone could be the only person who knows whether Marcus survived.""
Nia wiped her face.
"Then we don't go alone.""
Renee glanced toward Officer Brooks, who was returning from the information booth.
"Can you get station security to help us establish a safe route to the transit authority building?""
Brooks nodded.
"I can try. But I need to tell you something first.""
She looked at Renee, then at Nia.
"I checked the emergency desk. Someone called the station ten minutes before you arrived.""
"Who?""
"They identified themselves as a federal investigator. They requested that the station monitor any interaction involving Aaliyah Bell.""
Renee's stomach tightened.
"Did they provide credentials?""
"Yes.""
"Whose?""
Brooks looked down at the note she had taken.
"Yours.""
Renee stared at her.
"That isn't possible.""
"I know.""
Brooks handed her the paper.
It contained Renee's name, identification number, and a signature that looked almost identical to hers.
Beneath it was an instruction.
*IF THE CHILD IS LOCATED, TRANSFER HER TO SAFEHOUSE TWELVE. DO NOT NOTIFY LOCAL DISPATCH.*
Renee crumpled the paper.
"They're using my identity to move her.""
Damon nodded grimly.
"Because they know nobody will question an order that looks official.""
Nia held Aaliyah closer.
"Then we can't trust anyone.""
Renee looked at her.
"We can trust evidence. We can verify facts. We can make decisions based on what we know, not what someone wants us to believe.""
"And if the evidence is fake?""
"Then we find the person who created it.""
For the first time, Nia seemed to believe her.
Renee turned toward the terminal's main entrance.
"We need to get Aaliyah somewhere secure while we contact an independent investigator.""
Aaliyah shook her head.
"No.""
Renee crouched.
"Sweetheart—"
"I'm not leaving without knowing if Daddy is alive.""
Nia knelt beside her.
"I know you miss him.""
"Then help me find him.""
Nia looked at Renee.
Neither woman spoke.
Then a loud electronic chime sounded from every information screen.
The departure schedules disappeared.
A live video appeared.
Marcus Bell sat in a chair inside the same bright room shown in the photograph.
His hands were folded on a table.
His face was tired, but his eyes were clear.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Nia," he said, "if you're watching this, I'm sorry.""
Nia covered her mouth.
Aaliyah screamed, "DADDY!""
Marcus continued.
"I know you think I abandoned you. I know you think I let you believe I was dead. I didn't have a choice.""
He looked away briefly, as though someone had spoken to him.
Then he returned his gaze to the camera.
"Renee, I know you're there.""
Renee felt her heart pounding.
"There's something you need to remember about the night I died.""
The screen flickered.
Marcus leaned forward.
"You didn't order my transfer.""
Renee stared at him.
"You ordered the transfer of the person who was pretending to be me.""
The terminal fell silent.
Nia whispered, "What?""
Marcus looked directly at the camera.
"The body they identified as mine wasn't mine.""
Aaliyah began shaking.
Marcus continued.
"They used a dead man with my identification. They changed the records, buried the evidence, and made sure everyone believed I was gone.""
Renee's mind raced.
"Then who was the man in the morgue?"" she whispered.
Marcus seemed to hear her.
His expression darkened.
"That's what I need you to find out.""
The image shifted.
A second person entered the room.
Only a shoulder was visible at first.
Then a hand reached toward Marcus and placed a silver badge on the table.
Renee recognized the badge immediately.
It belonged to Detective Harris.
Marcus looked toward the unseen person.
"Tell them who gave the order.""
The person leaned into view.
Nia gasped.
Damon stumbled backward.
Aaliyah stared at the screen.
The man was not Harris.
It was Malcolm Price.
Price looked into the camera and smiled.
"Hello, Renee.""
The screen went black.
Then Renee's phone rang.
The caller ID displayed a name she hadn't seen in over a year.
*MARCUS BELL.*
She answered.
For a moment, all she could hear was breathing.
Then a man's voice whispered, "Renee, don't trust the video.""
Her heart stopped.
"Marcus?""
"Listen carefully. I have less than a minute.""
"Where are you?""
"That doesn't matter.""
"Are you alive?""
A pause.
Then, very softly, "Yes.""
Renee pressed the phone against her ear.
"Tell me where you are. I'll come get you.""
"No. You need to find Simone first.""
"Why?""
"Because she knows who was in the morgue.""
Renee glanced at Aaliyah.
"Does Nia know you're alive?""
"She knows I survived. She doesn't know what happened afterward.""
"Why did you let her believe you were dead?""
Marcus's breathing grew uneven.
"Because the person who ordered my death is standing in the same room as your daughter.""
Renee slowly looked around the terminal.
Damon.
Nia.
Aaliyah.
Officer Brooks.
Her partner.
No one else stood close enough to hear the conversation.
"Who?"" Renee whispered.
Marcus answered.
"Look at the woman holding Aaliyah.""
Renee stared at Nia.
The woman clutched her daughter tightly, tears streaming down her face.
"That's her mother," Renee said.
Marcus's voice cracked.
"I know.""
"Then what are you telling me?""
A pause.
"Renee, Nia Bell died three days ago.""
Renee stopped breathing.
The woman beside Aaliyah slowly lifted her head.
Her tears had vanished.
Her expression was calm.
And in her right hand, hidden against the little girl's back, was a small silver badge.
Renee took one step backward.
May you like
The woman smiled.
"Now you remember.""
