Chapter 10 - The Ring

"Thomas gave me this at the funeral," Rourke said. His voice sounded far away. "Bell handed it to me himself."

Mara held up the note. "Your niece said 'the man with Thomas's ring.' She might mean you. Or somebody who made sure you'd wear it."

"I never met Lily."

"Then why would she know your hand?"

Rourke slid the ring off. A fine seam ran around its inner band. He worked a pocketknife under it and pried it apart. A tiny gray chip landed on his palm.

Finch's eyes widened. "Passive identifier. It doesn't need a battery. They can track when it comes near a reader."

"I've worn it for nine years," Rourke whispered.

The betrayal hit him harder than the gunshot had. Every funeral, every promotion, every visit to his mother's kitchen—Bell could have mapped it all.

Mara put the chip on a block of concrete and crushed it beneath her boot.

"Not anymore."

Finch read Lily's note again. "Maybe she saw the ring in a surveillance photo."

"Or Bell showed it to her," Mara said. "He wants her to believe Daniel is part of this."

Cole returned from the clinic with a borrowed sedan and a paper bag of food. Dawn was safely with the physician, who had agreed to keep her name off any shared system until they reached an outside investigator.

"You're not going to like the rest," Cole said. "Two men were waiting near the clinic. One had an old Ridgeway insignia. I took the back road."

Rourke divided the food. Nobody felt hungry, but Mara insisted they eat. She had survived too long to confuse fear with fuel.

Torres showed her a photograph on his phone: a little girl at a dog training day, sitting beside Ranger as a puppy. The caption said FAMILY VISIT, THREE YEARS AGO.

Mara stared at the child. Lily had visited this very base. Bell had kept her close enough to use whenever he wanted.

"She was here," Mara said. "I spent years searching the country, and she was right here."

Then Finch's analog phone rang. She let it ring twice before answering.

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A girl's voice said, "Aunt Nora told me about the old birthday song. Mom, if that's really you, finish it."

Mara opened her mouth, and for the first time that day, no words came.