Chapter 3 - THE PHOTOGRAPH IN THE BACKPACK
Three hours later, Cole checked them into a sun-bleached roadside motel outside Gila Bend under a false name.
He took the last corner room because it had only one entrance and one narrow bathroom window. He parked the black sedan where he could see it from the curtains. He bought bottled water, baby formula, canned soup, a cheap stuffed rabbit from a gas station shelf, and a pair of flip-flops for Emma.
When he returned, she was sitting on the edge of the motel bed feeding Noah from a bottle with shaky, careful hands.
He set the supplies down.
Emma looked at the food like she didn’t believe it was real.
Then he noticed the photograph again on the bed beside her.
Rachel Morgan was smiling in that picture.
Not like a criminal.
Not like a woman running for her life.
Not like a traitor.
Like a mother at a park on a good day.
He took the photograph and turned it over.
There was handwriting on the back.
If you get scared, remember the blue house. Love you forever. - Mom
His eyes narrowed.
“What’s the blue house?”
Emma hesitated.
Then lowered her gaze.
“My mom said I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”
He crouched in front of her.
“You should understand something. Men are hunting your mother. Men were hunting you. If I hadn’t stopped, you and your brother would be dead or gone by now.”
Emma’s lower lip trembled.
“She said there was a safe place.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“That’s not good enough.”
“She said if anything happened, we had to find the blue house.”
He exhaled through his nose.
A code phrase. Maybe an address. Maybe a memory meant to unlock something later.
Rachel Morgan was smarter than the file made her sound.
He stood and searched the backpack more thoroughly.
Beneath Noah’s blankets and diapers, he found a folded motel stationery sheet.
Rachel’s handwriting again.
Emma, if someone safe finds you, ask them to look inside Noah’s red pack lining.
He went still.
He cut the stitching at the bottom seam with a pocketknife.
Inside was a memory card wrapped in tape.
His heartbeat changed.
He looked at Emma.
“Did you know this was here?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
He held the memory card up to the motel light.
Small.
Ordinary.
Potentially worth far more than $2 million.
Whatever Rachel had taken, this was part of it.
He slid the card into his pocket.
Emma saw.
“That belongs to my mom.”
May you like
His expression turned flat.
“It belongs to whoever survives long enough to use it.”
