Chapter 4 - The Names of a Stranger
I flipped through the other passports,
each one a different country,
each one a different identity.
In France,
he was Henri Dupont.
In Germany,
he was Karl Weber.
In Brazil,
he was Ricardo Silva.
Every single one featured his face,
though his hair was styled differently,
or he wore glasses I had never seen.
The dates of the stamps inside were the most terrifying part.
They coincided with the times he told me he was at agricultural conventions,
or visiting distant relatives in the Midwest.
He wasn't at a corn-growing seminar in Omaha;
he was in Berlin.
He wasn't checking on his uncle's ranch in Texas;
he was in Rio de Janeiro.
Forty-one years of marriage,
and I realized I had been living a carefully constructed lie.
"How could I not have known?"
I cried out,
the navy-blue napkin becoming damp with my tears.
"How could he hide an entire life from me?"
"He didn't hide it to hurt you,
Mom,"
Daniel said,
his voice trying to be soothing.
"He told me he did it to keep us safe."
"Safe from what?"
I demanded,
standing up and pacing the small dining room.
"We lived on a farm!
We were nobody!"
"Maybe that was the point,"
Emily suggested,
picking up one of the keys.
"The farm wasn't just a farm,
was it?"
I looked at the black device,
the satellite phone that looked out of place among the rosemary and casserole.
Suddenly,
it began to vibrate,
a low,
angry hum that rattled the wooden table.
The screen lit up with a single word:
VERIFIED.
Daniel reached for it,
but I beat him to it,
my instinct to know the truth overriding my fear.
I pressed the green button,
my heart hammering against my ribs.
A voice came through the speaker,
low,
gravelly,
and professional.
"Eagle has been dormant for 730 days,"
the voice said.
"Confirmation of the two-year protocols is required."
"Who is this?"
I whispered,
my voice barely audible.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line.
"Sarah?"
the voice asked,
shifting from professional to something almost human.
"Is that you?"
"How do you know my name?"
I asked,
gripping the phone so hard my knuckles turned white.
"Richard said you were the strongest woman he ever knew,"
the voice replied.
"He said if you were the one to answer,
it meant the timer had run out."
"The game is over,
Sarah."
May you like
"But the work...
the work is just beginning."
