Chapter 7 - What Jonah Said
Leah didn't ask me to hurry. She simply folded her hands, as if holding them still could hold the room together.
"He said, 'Tell Leah I knew the road wasn't safe.'" I swallowed. "Then he said, 'Get the recorder.'"
Dwayne leaned forward. "What recorder?"
"The small digital unit from his field kit. He kept voice notes when radio traffic got messy. I saw its red light under the water. I reached for it and a steel brace shifted. That's when my arm broke."
"Did you get it?" Brody asked.
"I thought I did." My voice dropped. "I remember putting something inside my vest. After that, the current threw me against the bridge support. I woke up on the bank. The vest was gone."
Leah looked at me with grief, not blame. It was somehow worse.
"You've carried that alone?"
"I thought I failed him twice."
"You went back," she said. "That's what you did."
Caleb arrived with pie on his fingers. Leah wiped his hands and asked Dwayne to take him to the old fire truck parked outside as a diner display. Dwayne understood immediately.
When they left, she turned to Brody. "What did Mercer have to lose?"
"A promotion. A government contract. Maybe both."
"And your mother?"
Brody shook his head. "Mom mostly wanted me to be important. Mercer knew how to make that sound like love."
Leah pulled out her phone. She had saved Mercer's voicemail. His tone was polished: he was concerned about misinformation, about the safety of a child, about letting the past rest. Then came a sentence that made us look at one another.
"If Major Lennox finds the bag her father kept," Mercer said on the recording, "please tell me before anyone opens it."
"A bag," I repeated. "Not a box."
My father had kept my old duffel bags in the garage, each one tagged. He used to say a person should never throw away a bag that had brought them home.
May you like
I called the storage facility. The clerk confirmed the unit was current, but hesitated when I asked about access.
"Someone's there right now," she said. "A woman in purple."
