Chapter 12 - The Missing Witness
They hid at an abandoned church outside town.
Elias checked the documents.
Most were intact.
One was missing.
"The photograph."
Nia looked at him.
"Mercer took it?"
"No."
"Then Vane."
Elias shook his head.
"No."
He remembered the confusion.
The lantern.
The gunshot.
Someone had brushed against him.
A hand.
"Someone stole it from me."
Nia frowned.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
They heard footsteps.
Elias raised his rifle.
A familiar voice spoke.
"Don't shoot."
Mercer entered.
Blood stained his shoulder.
Nia stared.
"You survived."
"Barely."
Elias lowered the rifle.
"What happened?"
"Vane's men searched the archive."
"Did they get the photograph?"
Mercer shook his head.
"No."
Elias exhaled.
"Then where is it?"
Mercer looked at Nia.
"Your father took it."
She froze.
"What?"
"Before he died, he sent it to me."
Mercer reached inside his coat.
He produced the photograph.
But something had been written on the back.
A message Elias hadn't seen before.
The last name isn't Bell.
Elias stared.
"Then who?"
Mercer looked exhausted.
"That's what your father wanted you to discover."
He pointed to the photograph.
One man stood behind Bell and Vane.
His face was partially hidden.
Mercer whispered:
"I believe he is the person controlling them."
Nia leaned closer.
"Who?"
Mercer shook his head.
"I don't know."
Elias looked at the man's clothing.
Then he noticed a small insignia.
A military seal.
Not territorial.
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Federal.
The mystery had just grown much larger.
