Kade looked over Renee’s shoulder to see the guardians’ message board open on the screen in front of her.
“What are you doing?”
“Messaging with Hannah.”
“What about?”
She finished typing something, hit Enter, and spun her chair around to face him. “I keep going back to the fact that the guardian program is strictly need-to-know.”
“Yeah. And?”
“So who knows about it?” She waved a hand toward her laptop. “Someone had to know about it in order to start eliminating everyone associated with it.”
The same thought had circled through his own mind more times than he could count. “I have to think it was one of our clients who revealed too much.”
“You don’t even let people know your names. I can’t imagine any of your clients would be able to not only identify one of you but also get past the next level of security to identify your support staff.”
Again, she spoke the logic he had wrestled with himself. “I’ve thought the same thing, but there isn’t anyone else left besides the guardians and Hannah.”
“Could any of the guardians have compromised the program?”
“Not a chance. We’ve all been in for at least six years, and every one of us would be dead if we revealed our true identity to anyone outside the program.” Kade shook his head. “The program protects us. None of us would jeopardize that.”
“Hannah wouldn’t have reached out to me for help if she was involved,” Renee said. “Not that I think for a minute she’s capable of hurting anyone in the first place.”
“I agree.”
Renee motioned to her laptop screen again. “Hannah told me her father and his assistant were killed last year.”
“That’s right.” Kade pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. “A leak from when the program was first created went undetected until the day her father was killed. Ultimately, all three people involved were either killed or taken into custody.”
“What if they weren’t?” Renee asked. “Maybe there was someone else involved who went undetected.”
“Not likely. We combed through all their travel and correspondence for months.”
She took a moment before she responded. “If there wasn’t someone still on the loose from the original attack, one of them had to have talked to someone. It’s the only other source of information.”
“That’s what you were talking to Hannah about?”
“Yeah. According to her, the only person who survived of the three suspects is Owen Werthcamp.”
“That’s right. Werthcamp is the son of one of the original programmers. After his father died, he decided he was entitled to the financial benefits of controlling our database. He tried to steal it and sell it to the Chinese.” Kade considered. “Where is he now?”
“He’s currently in prison in Kentucky.”
Kade read the information on the screen. “That’s not a prison. That’s a hospital. Why is he still in a medical ward? He should have recovered from his wound months ago.”
“I don’t know. Maybe his injuries were serious.”
“They were serious, but there wasn’t any sign of paralysis when he was shot.”
“Are you sure? Sometimes reports are misleading.”
“That’s true, but I’m the one who treated him on the scene before the paramedics arrived.”
“Maybe it’s time someone pays him a visit to see exactly who he’s been talking to.”
“That’s an excellent idea.” Kade thought for a moment. “Are you up for a road trip?”
“A road trip?”
“Yeah. It’s about an eight- or nine-hour drive from here. We can leave early tomorrow morning, and I can interview Werthcamp tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday morning.”
“At this point, I’m just along for the ride.”
“In that case, you might want to pack whatever you want up front with you tomorrow,” Kade said.
“We should probably make a run to the grocery store before we head out. We’re getting low on a few things.”
“We’ll stop in Charlotte on our way. I’d rather not have you in any stores in this area where you might be recognized.”
Renee’s eyebrows lifted. “You’ve seen the contacts in my phone. The likelihood of me being recognized by anyone anywhere is slim to none.”
“Sorry, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
* * *
Kade was halfway through West Virginia when he answered his phone expecting to hear good news. Ace shattered that expectation in less than three seconds.
“Sean Caspar isn’t at his house, and he hasn’t been to work for the past two days.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Kade felt Renee’s eyes on him and had to force his own eyes to stay on the road. “How did he know we were on to him?”
“I don’t know. He put in for leave last Thursday. He said he had a family emergency and expected to be gone for a couple weeks. No one has heard from him since.”
“Sounds fishy to me. We already know he doesn’t have family, at least not the family that matches his identity.”
“It’s possible he got wind that someone was asking around about him,” Ace said. “Or he could have alerts set up on his social media accounts.”
“Whatever it was, if he knows we were on to him, he’s in the wind now.”
“There’s one more thing.”
“I don’t know if I can handle one more thing from you at the rate you’re going,” Kade muttered.
“Hannah looked into the girlfriend and said she dropped off the grid at the same time the real Sean Caspar did. Your assumption that she was killed with her boyfriend is consistent with what Hannah found.”
“I’m getting tired of all these dead ends.”
“You have an appointment at the prison hospital tomorrow to visit Werthcamp. Maybe you can shake some information out of him.”
“I certainly hope so.”
* * *
“That’s not him.” Kade’s voice was absolute, and he turned to look at the guard who had escorted him into the visiting area in the hospital’s prison wing.
A look of confusion appeared on the guard’s face, and he motioned to the redheaded man sitting in a wheelchair in the corner of the room. “That’s him right there.”
“Has he undergone any surgery since his arrest that would have altered his appearance?
“No. He has remained here in this ward because of his mental confusion. He still doesn’t have any recollection of why he’s here or who he is.”
Ghost crossed the room and sat beside the man in question. “What’s your name?” Ghost asked.
“They say my name is Owen Werthcamp.”
“What do you think your name is?”
The man’s brows drew together in concentration. He didn’t speak, and it appeared as though he couldn’t bring the information forward.
“What were you called when you were a little boy?” Kade said, all too familiar with the confusion that could come with living with more than one identity. “What did your mom call you?” Kade saw a flash of memory evident in the man’s face.
“Emmett. She called me Emmett.”
“That’s good. Emmett, can you tell me how you ended up here?”
“I don’t know. I woke up here.” He brushed his fingers along his abdomen in a gesture Kade recognized.
“You were shot.” Kade edged forward. “Can I see the scar?”
A defensive mask emerged on the man’s face now, erasing the strained thread of trust Kade had begun to weave. “I’m only trying to help,” Kade assured him.
Gingerly, Emmett curled his fingers around the hem of his T-shirt and slowly lifted it to reveal a bullet wound. The location was consistent with where Ace had shot the man who was supposed to be in front of him, and yet . . .
“Can I check something real quick?” Kade asked, edging forward slowly.
“I guess.”
Kade reached out and lifted the shirt a few inches higher to reveal bare skin stretching over the man’s rib cage. Bare, unblemished skin.
He let the T-shirt drop back into place. “What’s the last thing you remember before you woke up here?” Kade asked.
“I don’t know. Images come in flashes, but they all tell me none of it is real.”
“Tell me about these flashes of memory,” Kade pressed.
“Sitting in a vehicle with two Marines. The ground rocks, and flames are everywhere.” He swallowed hard. “The heat . . .” The man’s face went pale, and Kade could see him push the memories away.
“Before that. What was home like? Who was there waiting for you when you got back?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. They say I don’t have a family.”
“Can you see them?” Kade asked. “In your memories, can you tell me who is there?”
Tears glistened in his eyes now. “She’s beautiful.”
“What does she look like?”
“Long brown hair. A smile that lights up the room.” He swiped at his eyes and shook the memories away. “It’s all a dream.”
“It might be a dream,” Kade said, “but sometimes our dreams come from our memories.” Kade stood and offered his hand. “It was nice to meet you, Emmett.”
His confusion cleared for a moment, and Emmett placed his hand in Kade’s. “Good to meet you too.”
Kade crossed the room and spoke to the guard again. “I need to speak to the warden.”
“Can I ask what this is about?”
“It’s about the man you have in custody under the name of Owen Werthcamp. That man is named Emmett, and my guess is he’s a war vet with PTSD.”
“How in the world did you come up with that? You only talked to him for five minutes. The man’s delusional.”
“The man’s confused and suffering, yes, but he’s not Werthcamp.”
“Again, how can you tell?”
“Because I was there when Werthcamp was shot. That man’s bullet wound is a few inches too low, and he doesn’t have a scar on his ribs,” Kade said with certainty. “When I treated the bullet wound, I noticed a six-inch scar from a stab wound that ran the length of Werthcamp’s right rib cage.”
The guard’s posture changed as he opened himself up to Kade’s claim. “I’ll get you in to see the warden right away.”
“Thank you.” Kade took a step toward the door before turning back. “And one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Please instruct the staff to call that man Emmett from this point on. Maybe with the right care, he’ll be able to rebuild his life and get past whatever trauma landed him here.”
“Yes, sir.”