{"id":7100,"date":"2026-09-11T16:25:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T16:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/?p=7100"},"modified":"2026-09-11T16:25:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T16:25:18","slug":"part-14-nicoles-password-opened-a-door-trent-could-no-longer-reach-but-the-person-using-it-knew-exactly-which-security-system-protected-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/?p=7100","title":{"rendered":"PART 14 \u2013 Nicole\u2019s Password Opened a Door Trent Could No Longer Reach, but the Person Using It Knew Exactly Which Security System Protected Me"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nicole was brought in for questioning before sunset.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>Detective Ortiz did not tell me where.<\/p>\n<p>She also refused to let me speak with Nicole directly.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-2\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>For once, I did not argue.<\/p>\n<p>I had spent too many years confusing access with control. I did not need to confront everyone personally to know the truth.<\/p>\n<p>Alex sat across from me in the secure apartment while Ortiz kept us updated by phone.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cCould Nicole actually access your system?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just said her credentials were used.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHer old company credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat company?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alex hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeriously?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt isn\u2019t a secret. I just didn\u2019t think it mattered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEverything matters now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He accepted that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNicole did contract work for my firm two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I blinked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTemporary marketing project.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou hired Trent\u2019s sister?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was before things got as bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThings were already bad.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That phrase had become the refrain of our relationship.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat could she access?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot much. Internal project portal. Shared files.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecurity code?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot directly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut enough to try.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf somebody knew what they were looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd somebody did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I thought about Trent.<\/p>\n<p>He hated Alex.<\/p>\n<p>Yet he had spent years studying him too.<\/p>\n<p>The protective brother was not merely an obstacle.<\/p>\n<p>He was part of the system Trent needed to defeat.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz called two hours later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNicole says she didn\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you believe her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot automatically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she claim?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Trent asked for her old login months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said Alex had information about him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Nicole give it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do the records say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re checking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alex leaned toward the phone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat IP address?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz gave him a location.<\/p>\n<p>He frowned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s not Nicole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause it\u2019s near Helen and Richard\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz said, \u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDoes Helen even know how to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alex shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nobody answered.<\/p>\n<p>An hour later, police executed another search.<\/p>\n<p>Helen\u2019s house.<\/p>\n<p>Richard had already moved into a hotel.<\/p>\n<p>He gave permission for areas legally considered his.<\/p>\n<p>The rest required warrants.<\/p>\n<p>What they found was not sophisticated.<\/p>\n<p>A laptop.<\/p>\n<p>Printed instructions.<\/p>\n<p>Passwords.<\/p>\n<p>A USB drive.<\/p>\n<p>Someone had prepared everything for Helen.<\/p>\n<p>Trent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course,\u201d I said when Ortiz told me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe gave her instructions before his arrest?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLikely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was she supposed to retrieve?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlex\u2019s security architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found a note.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat note?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHandwritten by Trent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRead it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c\u2018If I\u2019m detained, find the override. A. built the weakness himself.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alex swore.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat weakness?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe emergency function.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou made it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo he thinks he can exploit it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny system can be exploited if someone understands enough about how it was built.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said the alert was secure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt still is. But I built a remote maintenance route.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Nicole\u2019s credentials could lead someone toward it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen shut it down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI already did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery part?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He met my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The honesty frightened me.<\/p>\n<p>But I preferred it to false certainty.<\/p>\n<p>We moved again that night.<\/p>\n<p>Different location.<\/p>\n<p>Different car.<\/p>\n<p>My name was not used.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel was moved too.<\/p>\n<p>We were not told where each other stayed.<\/p>\n<p>The separation felt intentional.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone trying to reach one of us would not automatically reach the other.<\/p>\n<p>At two in the morning, I lay awake listening to rain strike the windows.<\/p>\n<p>My temporary phone had been replaced again.<\/p>\n<p>Only four people had the number.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz.<\/p>\n<p>My attorney.<\/p>\n<p>My doctor.<\/p>\n<p>Alex.<\/p>\n<p>It rang.<\/p>\n<p>Unknown number.<\/p>\n<p>I stared.<\/p>\n<p>Then called Ortiz from a second device.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo not answer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor anyone to have this number.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNumbers leak through systems. We\u2019ll trace what we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The call stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Then came a voicemail notification.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz told me not to play it.<\/p>\n<p>Officers retrieved the phone and reviewed the recording elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Three hours later, she called.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s Helen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I sat upright.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does she want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says Trent lied to her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat took six years?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy call me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe says she has something she never gave police.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course she does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Everything with Helen had a price.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA recording.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My body went still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf Trent?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore the morning at your house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow long before?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwo days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did she record him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInsurance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I almost admired the ugliness of it.<\/p>\n<p>Helen had finally behaved exactly like Trent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInsurance against what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf his plan went wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich plan?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe confrontation with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My hands tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told her what he intended?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why didn\u2019t she stop him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz was silent.<\/p>\n<p>Because knowing did not mean caring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does the recording say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe has not turned it over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s bargaining again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReduced exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat exposure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPotential obstruction, intimidation, destruction of evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>The word arrived before guilt.<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you need from me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I blinked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not asking you to negotiate with her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That was new.<\/p>\n<p>Someone else handling the consequences.<\/p>\n<p>I realized how much of my marriage had depended on Trent forcing me into every conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Fix this.<\/p>\n<p>Explain yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Make peace.<\/p>\n<p>Call my mother.<\/p>\n<p>Apologize to Nicole.<\/p>\n<p>Smooth it over.<\/p>\n<p>Now Helen wanted access to me because access gave her leverage.<\/p>\n<p>She was not getting it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By noon, Helen surrendered the recording through her attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz brought me a transcript rather than the audio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause hearing his voice may be harder.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want the transcript.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>Choice again.<\/p>\n<p>I read.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: She\u2019s pregnant. Don\u2019t be stupid.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: That\u2019s why it has to happen now.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: You said after the baby.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: I changed my mind.<\/p>\n<p>My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: What are you going to do?<\/p>\n<p>Trent: Nothing permanent.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: That is not an answer.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: I need her scared enough to stop calling Alex.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: And if she doesn\u2019t?<\/p>\n<p>A long pause appeared in the transcript.<\/p>\n<p>Then Trent:<\/p>\n<p>Then I move up the schedule.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Ortiz.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat schedule?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe the post-birth plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I continued.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: You can\u2019t do that yet.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: Why not?<\/p>\n<p>Helen: Because Rachel is still out there.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: Not for long.<\/p>\n<p>My breath stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Helen had known Rachel was alive.<\/p>\n<p>I looked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe told everyone she barely knew about his old relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I kept reading.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: You said you couldn\u2019t find her.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: I found her six months ago.<\/p>\n<p>Nicole\u2019s photograph.<\/p>\n<p>The shopping center.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: Then why is she still breathing?<\/p>\n<p>I stopped.<\/p>\n<p>The page shook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRead the rest,\u201d Ortiz said gently.<\/p>\n<p>I did.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: Because she has copies.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: Of what?<\/p>\n<p>Trent: Enough.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: Then deal with it.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: I am.<\/p>\n<p>I lowered the transcript.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHelen told him to kill her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe cannot say exactly what she meant by \u2018deal with it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed without humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour caution is exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I read again.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: And the wife?<\/p>\n<p>Trent: She\u2019ll be easier once the baby comes.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: Unless Alex interferes.<\/p>\n<p>Trent: That\u2019s what the morning is for.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: You really think yelling at her will solve that?<\/p>\n<p>Trent: I think showing her nobody comes when she calls will.<\/p>\n<p>My eyes filled.<\/p>\n<p>That had been the point.<\/p>\n<p>The kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>The witnesses.<\/p>\n<p>The missing phone.<\/p>\n<p>The missing keys.<\/p>\n<p>He wanted to prove Alex could not reach me.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, Alex had walked through the door.<\/p>\n<p>I kept reading.<\/p>\n<p>Helen: And if he does come?<\/p>\n<p>Trent: Then I learn how fast.<\/p>\n<p>The sentence changed everything.<\/p>\n<p>The morning had not only been punishment.<\/p>\n<p>It had been a test.<\/p>\n<p>Trent had wanted to measure the emergency response.<\/p>\n<p>My alert.<\/p>\n<p>Alex\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n<p>Police timing.<\/p>\n<p>The security system.<\/p>\n<p>He had been studying the route he would need to defeat later.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe planned the assault as reconnaissance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is one interpretation strongly supported by the recording.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe smashed my phone after I triggered the alert.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe wanted to know whether that stopped it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the power outage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlex initiated the security isolation after receiving the alert.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe saw that too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin crawled.<\/p>\n<p>Every action had taught Trent something.<\/p>\n<p>Unless it had taught him the wrong thing.<\/p>\n<p>I looked at Alex.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe security system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe thinks the emergency trigger is the protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the police came because you called.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd because Nicole livestreamed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd because neighbors saw things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd because I said what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere wasn\u2019t one system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trent had spent years believing every person could be isolated.<\/p>\n<p>Every line of help cut individually.<\/p>\n<p>But survival had not come from one perfect mechanism.<\/p>\n<p>It had come from overlap.<\/p>\n<p>Alex.<\/p>\n<p>Police.<\/p>\n<p>Nicole\u2019s recording.<\/p>\n<p>The security panel.<\/p>\n<p>My own voice.<\/p>\n<p>Rachel\u2019s evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Even Richard\u2019s late confession.<\/p>\n<p>No single person had saved me.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happens now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz folded the transcript.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharges expand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Helen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLikely.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Trent?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Rachel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re relocating her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAgain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated that she still had to run.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe deserves to stop moving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI agree.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But agreement did not create safety.<\/p>\n<p>That afternoon, Trent was charged with additional counts related to fraud, witness intimidation, stalking, identity theft, and conspiracy-related conduct still under investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Helen was charged the following morning.<\/p>\n<p>Nicole received limited immunity for turning over evidence and cooperating, though her role in deleting video remained under review.<\/p>\n<p>Richard signed a full statement.<\/p>\n<p>The family that had arrived at my house to unite against me was no longer united at all.<\/p>\n<p>Three days passed.<\/p>\n<p>Then four.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since the assault, no new message arrived.<\/p>\n<p>I almost began to trust the quiet.<\/p>\n<p>That was when my doctor called.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My heart stopped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout the baby?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour baby is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I exhaled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomeone called the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA woman claiming to be you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My skin chilled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour scheduled induction information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing. Your file is restricted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Good.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you get the number?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlocked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I called Ortiz.<\/p>\n<p>Within an hour, she called back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe hospital recorded the call.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoice?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas it Helen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNicole?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut she claimed to be me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid she sound my age?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cApproximately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two women Rachel mentioned between herself and me came back to me.<\/p>\n<p>One had escaped before Trent isolated her.<\/p>\n<p>The other had disappeared from Rachel\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat were their names?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I asked.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz went quiet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe women between Rachel and me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re investigating.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know their names.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMrs. Hale\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCaroline Dyer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The name meant nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cColorado.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Relief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the other?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have not identified her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I stared at the wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould the caller be Caroline?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I hated the word less now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Rachel know about her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery little.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen ask.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe already did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachel gave us everything she remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did she remember?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Trent called the woman \u2018Mara.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My breath caught.<\/p>\n<p>Not because I recognized it.<\/p>\n<p>Because I remembered the third envelope from the box.<\/p>\n<p>The one without a name.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you open the unlabeled envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz went silent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDetective?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was inside?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA photograph.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf who?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA woman we had not identified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShow Rachel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe thinks it\u2019s Mara.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs she alive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then Ortiz added, \u201cBut we found her photograph in Trent\u2019s office beside your hospital information.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/?p=7101\"><strong>Click Here to continue read next: PART15: The Woman Trent Had Hidden Between Rachel and Me Wasn\u2019t Missing at All, and She Knew the Last Part of His Plan<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nicole was brought in for questioning before sunset. Detective Ortiz did not tell me where. She also refused to let me speak with Nicole directly. For once, I did not &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7100"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7105,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7100\/revisions\/7105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}