Chapter 6: The Photograph That Shouldn't Exist
For four years, I had carried a photograph of my brother in my wallet.
Michael stood beside me on the day I bought my first house, one arm slung around my shoulders, grinning as if he had personally negotiated the mortgage. He was thirty-two, stubborn, funny, and incapable of entering a room without making someone laugh.
The photograph Sienna had placed on my coffee table showed a different man.
Michael looked tired. His shirt was wrinkled, his hair uncombed, and there was a bruise near his left temple. He stood beside Mason Reed outside a building I recognized immediately.
My company's old server facility.
The date written on the back was October 14.
The day Michael died.
I turned the photograph over again, hoping I had misread it.
I hadn't.
"Where did you get this?"" I asked.
Sienna sat on the edge of the sofa, twisting her wedding ring around her finger.
"Mason's office. Three weeks ago.""
"You've had this for three weeks?""
"Yes.""
"And you said nothing?""
She flinched.
"I was afraid.""
I laughed once, without humor.
"My brother is dead, Sienna. Whatever you're afraid of, tell me the truth.""
She looked at Noah, who was sitting beside me with his dinosaur in his lap.
"Can we talk somewhere private?""
"No.""
"Daniel, please.""
"Noah has spent the entire evening being told that his father is going to disappear. I'm done hiding things from the people I love.""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I don't deserve you saying that.""
"You're right. You don't.""
The words sounded cruel, but I couldn't take them back.
She lowered her head.
"Michael called me the night he died.""
The room seemed to contract around us.
"What?""
"He called at 9:17 p.m. He said he needed to talk to you urgently, but you were in a meeting. I told him I'd pass along the message.""
"Did you?""
She shook her head.
"No.""
I stood so quickly that Noah startled.
"Why not?""
"Because Mason told me not to.""
I stared at her.
"Mason knew Michael?""
"They had been working together.""
"Working on what?""
"I don't know all the details.""
"Then tell me the details you do know.""
Sienna wiped her cheeks.
"Michael discovered irregularities in the company's security contracts. Payments were being made to vendors that didn't exist. He believed someone was using your company to move money.""
My stomach tightened.
The irregularities.
The unexplained expenses.
The same pattern that had appeared in the records Claire was now investigating.
"Who was responsible?""
"Mason said he was helping Michael investigate it. He told me your brother had become paranoid and was making accusations against the wrong people.""
"And you believed him?""
"I wanted to.""
"That's not an answer.""
She looked up.
"No. I didn't believe him completely. But I didn't know what to do.""
I paced toward the window.
Outside, a police officer spoke with another officer beside the black SUV. The rear bumper had a deep scrape along its left side.
The same mark I had noticed earlier.
I looked back at Sienna.
"Why was Michael at the server facility?""
"He had arranged to meet someone there.""
"Who?""
"Mason.""
I felt something inside me crack.
"Did Michael know Mason was stealing money?""
"I think so.""
"And the night he died?""
Sienna's voice dropped.
"Mason called me after Michael left the facility. He said Michael had been in an accident and that the police were handling it. He told me not to call you until he had spoken to your business partners.""
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"My brother was dying, and Mason was worried about speaking to my business partners?""
She covered her face.
"I know how it sounds.""
"It sounds like you let a stranger decide what I was allowed to know about my own brother.""
"I was twenty-nine, Daniel. I was frightened, and Mason knew exactly what to say. He told me if I involved myself, I could destroy your company. He said Michael had stolen confidential records and that the police might investigate you.""
I stopped pacing.
"Did he show you evidence?""
She nodded.
"A set of emails. A spreadsheet. A photograph of Michael entering the server facility.""
"And you accepted that?""
"I was pregnant with Noah. You were traveling constantly, and I thought I was protecting the family we were about to have.""
I looked down at my son.
Noah was rubbing the dinosaur's felt arm between his fingers.
I remembered the night Michael died.
I had been in Boston, presenting a proposal to a group of investors. When Sienna finally called, she told me there had been an accident. By the time I reached the hospital, Michael was gone.
I remembered the police officer telling me that my brother had lost control of his car on a wet road.
I remembered the unanswered questions.
The missing phone.
The briefcase that had never been recovered.
The report stating that no other vehicle had been identified.
I had accepted the conclusion because grief had left me too exhausted to challenge it.
Now I wondered whether someone had counted on that exhaustion.
"Did Mason ever tell you what happened to Michael's records?"" I asked.
Sienna shook her head.
"No. But I saw him with a small black drive. He said it contained personal files he needed to return to the company.""
"When?""
"The morning after Michael died.""
I closed my eyes.
The room was suddenly too bright, the air too thin.
My phone rang.
Claire.
I answered immediately.
"Daniel, I've reviewed the access logs from your server facility. There's a problem.""
"Tell me.""
"Someone accessed the archived security footage on October 14, four years ago. The footage was supposed to have been retained for ninety days, then deleted automatically. Instead, a contractor account exported several files.""
"Which account?""
She paused.
"Mason Reed's.""
Sienna made a small, broken sound.
Claire continued.
"I also found a reference to an incident report that was removed from the archive. The file name suggests a vehicle collision, but I can't access the contents.""
"Can you recover it?""
"I'm working on that. But Daniel, there's something else. The contractor credentials used to export the files were assigned to a man named Thomas Bell.""
The missing contractor.
I gripped the phone.
"Could Mason have used Thomas's credentials?""
"Possibly. But the access record contains a second authorization token. That token was issued to someone inside your company.""
"Who?""
Claire took a breath.
"The token was registered to your brother.""
I looked at the photograph on the table.
Michael beside Mason.
October 14.
My brother had not merely been near the security system.
He had accessed it.
"Was Michael stealing the footage?"" I asked.
"I can't tell from the log alone. But if he exported files, he may have been preserving evidence.""
I looked at Sienna.
She was crying silently now.
"Claire, keep going. Find every record you can.""
"I will. But I need you to be careful. If Mason has been manipulating your company's systems, he may still have access to accounts we haven't identified.""
The call ended.
I stood motionless, the phone pressed against my ear.
Then Noah tugged at my sleeve.
"Daddy?""
I lowered the phone.
"Yes, buddy?""
"Is Uncle Michael coming to visit?""
The question nearly broke me.
"No, sweetheart.""
"Why not?""
I knelt beside him.
"Because Uncle Michael died before you were born.""
He thought about that.
"Is he in heaven?""
"I hope so.""
Noah looked at the photograph.
"Was he your brother?""
"Yes.""
"Did he love you?""
I swallowed.
"More than you can imagine.""
Noah climbed into my lap and wrapped his arms around my neck.
"Then you have to find out what happened to him.""
I held him tightly.
"I will.""
Across the room, Sienna lifted her head.
"Daniel, there's one more thing.""
I didn't look at her.
"What?""
"The night Michael died, he left me a voicemail. I deleted it the next morning because Mason told me it could be used against you.""
I turned slowly.
"You deleted his last message?""
She nodded, tears running down her face.
"But I still have the backup.""
For the first time that night, she looked directly at me.
"I never told Mason.""
I felt my pulse quicken.
"Where is it?""
"On an old phone. I kept it in the safe at my mother's house.""
"What's on it?""
"I don't know. I was too afraid to listen to it again.""
I stared at her.
"Get it.""
She reached for her handbag.
Before she could move, a loud bang came from outside.
Someone shouted.
Then Harris's voice rang through the house.
"Daniel! Stay inside!""
I lifted Noah and moved toward the hallway.
Through the front window, I saw an officer running toward the service gate.
The black SUV was still parked outside.
But the driver's door was open.
Mason was gone.
And beside the vehicle, an officer held up a phone that had been left on the driver's seat.
My phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.
Your brother made the same mistake you just made. He trusted the wrong person.
Then another message arrived.
Ask Sienna what she did at 9:17 p.m.
I looked at my wife.
She had gone completely white.
May you like
Because she knew exactly what happened at 9:17 p.m.
And she knew the voicemail on that old phone might prove it.
