Chapter 8 - The Price of SilenceDr. Price stared at the email.
Bennett immediately instructed her not to open any attachments.
The message was preserved for forensic examination.
I watched Price's hands tremble.
“How long has this been happening?” I asked.
“Years.”
“Threats?”
She nodded.
“Anonymous calls. Strange vehicles outside my home. Once, someone left an old photograph of my daughter on my windshield.”
Bennett took notes.
“Did you report these incidents?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“The reports went nowhere.”
Price looked at me.
“You have no idea how frightened I was.”
I believed her.
Fear didn't always announce itself loudly.
Sometimes it looked like a capable woman continuing to work while waiting for the next threat.
Bennett arranged protective measures and began documenting the intimidation.
Then Price told us what happened after Daniel disappeared.
He'd been moved through several private medical facilities while recovering from his injuries.
His memory had initially been unreliable.
He remembered fragments of the mission, but little of the weeks afterward.
When his condition improved, he discovered he'd been declared dead.
He demanded to contact his family.
According to Price, Voss refused.
“He told Daniel that contacting anyone would endanger the people he loved.”
“Did Daniel believe him?” I asked.
“At first.”
“And later?”
“He tried to leave.”
Price's expression darkened.
“What happened?” Bennett asked.
“They sedated him and transferred him again.”
I felt sick.
Over the next several years, Daniel reportedly became increasingly difficult to control.
He began documenting everything he could remember.
Names.
Dates.
Vehicles.
Locations.
Eventually, Price helped him escape.
“When?” I asked.
“Six months ago.”
“Then why hasn't he come home?”
“Because he believes Voss still has access to people who can reach his family.”
Bennett closed her notebook.
“We need to find him.”
Price nodded.
“I know.”
“Can you contact him?”
“Not directly.”
“Then how were you with him at the Winchester facility?”
Price hesitated.
“I was delivering medical supplies.”
“For whom?”
“Daniel.”
“Who arranged it?”
Price looked uncomfortable.
“I received instructions through an intermediary.”
Bennett exchanged a glance with me.
“What intermediary?” she asked.
Before Price could answer, her desk phone rang.
She stared at the screen.
The caller ID displayed an unfamiliar number.
Bennett nodded.
“Answer it. Put it on speaker.”
Price pressed the button.
“Hello?”
A man's voice responded.
“Elena.”
Her face changed.
“Daniel?”
I stopped breathing.
“Is Rebecca there?” the man asked.
Price looked at me.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then I heard a familiar voice say my name.
“Rebecca.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Daniel?”
“I'm sorry.”
Those two words nearly broke me.
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you yet.”
“You've been alive all this time.”
“I know.”
I pressed my hand against the table.
“Evan knows.”
A long silence followed.
Then Daniel whispered, “My boy?”
“Yes.”
“Is he all right?”
“He's grown into a Marine.”
Daniel made a sound that was half laugh, half sob.
“I missed everything.”
“You can still come home.”
“I want to.”
“Then let us help.”
Daniel's voice became urgent.
“Listen carefully. Voss isn't the only one involved.”
Bennett leaned toward the phone.
“Who else?”
Daniel paused.
Then he said, “The person who signed the final report.”
My stomach tightened.
“General Whitaker?”
“No,” Daniel replied.
“Someone changed the report before Whitaker signed it.”
“Who?”
Daniel began to answer.
Then we heard a loud noise in the background.
A door opening.
Footsteps.
His voice dropped.
May you like
“They found me.”
The call ended.
Related Stories
