Howard finds the story in less than two minutes. It’s a small article from five years ago in the Star-Gazette, a local paper that covers several towns in the area.
Two Found Dead After Car Plunges into Chemung River
Howard reads the story out loud.
“A couple from Rochester, a professor and his wife, unfamiliar with the area, were speeding across Fitch’s Bridge in Elmira last night when they lost control and went over the side of the bridge.”
Howard passes me the phone so I can glance at the accompanying photo.
A group of townspeople stands on the bridge, pointing to a break in the railing. A police vehicle is parked behind them. There are children in the crowd along with a cross section of people who came out to see what all the excitement was about.
The article had been there all along, waiting for me to discover it if I had dared to look.
Hide in plain sight. That’s a Program technique. It’s always the best defense.
Hide in plain sight. My face burns as I think how well the technique worked on me.
A hand touches my shoulder. It’s Tanya, reaching over the back of my seat. She leans forward until her mouth is close to my ear.
“Are you okay?” she says gently.
“Don’t do that,” I say.
“Do what?”
“Talk down to me like that. I’m not a kid.”
“I was just trying—”
“Don’t try,” I say.
“Right,” she says, and she lets go and sits back in her seat.
Howard is staring at me.
“You guys don’t have to worry about me,” I say. “I’m a soldier. I’ve been through a lot of things.”
“But it’s your parents,” Howard says.
I feel my jaw tighten.
“I’m trained to deal with all scenarios,” I say.
Neither of them says anything after that.
We drive for a while in silence.
My mind is sorting through the details of the article. While I know it’s only a cover story, it could potentially help me prove or disprove my parents’ death. If there was an accident, there had to be bodies. If there are bodies, there will be DNA evidence.
I turn to Howard. “The article mentioned Elmira. That’s near Corning, right?”
“We’re not too far from there,” he says.
“I want to see where the accident happened,” I say.
“Sounds like a plan,” Howard says.