Chapter 5 - The Promotion Photograph
“Where did they take her?” Mara demanded.
“I didn't see,” said Lena's sister, Sofia. “Two men in a gray SUV. No uniforms.”
“Did they hurt her?”
“They told me to say she never existed.”
A delivery truck hissed past the pharmacy windows. Mara fought the urge to walk back outside and scream for help. Sofia slipped a folded receipt into her hand. On it was one line: CAMERA 6, SEPTEMBER 14.
“Lena said your brother was smart enough to hide copies where everyone could see them,” Sofia explained. “She thought you would know.”
September 14. The date of Daniel's preliminary promotion ceremony, when the precinct had posted a gallery of photographs online. Mara borrowed the clerk's tablet, searched the department archive, and found the image within seconds.
Daniel stood smiling beside Captain Price and Victor Whitcomb. Behind them, reflected in a polished trophy case, was a fourth man. His face was almost hidden. But the silver medical-alert bracelet on his wrist was unmistakable.
Evan wore that bracelet because of a childhood heart condition. Mara had bought it for him after he nearly fainted at a basketball game.
The photo had been taken six weeks after his supposed death.
For one dizzy moment she believed he was alive. Then she saw the caption: ARCHIVE REUPLOAD—IMAGE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR.
The confusion felt deliberate. She zoomed in on a digital sign above the doorway. It showed the exact September date and a weather advisory issued only that week. Somebody had altered the archive label, not the photograph.
“Mara,” Sofia whispered, “there's a car outside.”
The gray SUV parked opposite the pharmacy. The driver's door opened.
Mara texted the image to three addresses Evan had stored under nicknames in his old email account. A tiny message returned from one: RECEIVED. KEEP MOVING.
A man entered through the pharmacy's back stockroom door, blocking their exit. Another walked through the front.
Sofia grabbed a metal shopping basket. “If they want us, they're going to have to pay for the merchandise.”
She hurled it into the front man's knees as Mara pulled the fire alarm.
May you like
The alarm screamed. Shelves toppled. And through the shattered chaos, Mara heard someone shout a name she had never expected.
“Reyes! She's headed east!”
