Chapter 11 - The Woman Who Had Been Given Megan's Name
When Detective Grant showed Megan the photograph, she felt the blood drain from her face.
The woman beside Avery Reed looked nothing like her.
She was taller, with short dark hair and a narrow face.
But the name tag pinned to her uniform read MEGAN WALSH.
Megan leaned closer.
"Why is she wearing my name?"
Tessa looked grim.
"That's what we're investigating."
"Is she another missing woman?"
"Possibly."
"Do you know who she really is?"
"We're comparing the image against several records."
Megan stared at Avery.
She was thinner than in the photograph Laura had shown her.
Her hair had been cut to her shoulders.
Her face looked exhausted.
But she was standing.
Alive when the picture was taken.
"Laura needs to know."
"She's been informed about the photograph of Avery. We haven't given her every detail of the investigation."
Megan nodded.
She understood the need for caution.
But the false name frightened her.
Rick hadn't simply tried to sell her as collateral.
Someone had prepared an identity that could be assigned to another woman.
"Did they expect me to disappear?"
Tessa didn't answer immediately.
"People who exploit others sometimes use false identities to control movement, conceal records, or confuse investigators."
Megan looked down.
"So my name could have been used even if I never reached Victor?"
"Yes."
It was a disturbing possibility.
Megan thought of every time Rick had borrowed her identification.
Every time he'd insisted he needed copies of her documents for insurance, banking, or apartment applications.
He had once photographed her driver's license while she was cooking dinner.
She'd barely noticed.
Now she understood how useful those details could have been to someone running a criminal network.
Elena squeezed her hand.
"Your identity can be protected and restored. We'll help you review your accounts and records."
Megan nodded.
But the violation felt enormous.
Rick had controlled her home.
Her money.
Her choices.
Now she discovered he'd helped strangers use her name as if it belonged to them.
That afternoon, Megan called Nina.
"I need a favor."
"Anything."
"Do you remember when Rick used to come by the shop and ask to borrow the printer?"
Nina sighed.
"Unfortunately."
"Did he ever leave anything behind?"
"A few receipts, probably. Why?"
"Could you check?"
Nina promised she would.
Later, she discovered a small envelope inside an old file folder.
It contained photocopies of identification cards and a shipping-company invoice Rick had printed months earlier.
Nina hadn't known what they were.
She immediately contacted Detective Grant rather than sending the images over an unsecured message.
The invoice bore the name Blackwater Transit Holdings.
Its payment reference matched one of the suspicious accounts.
More importantly, a handwritten notation on the reverse contained a telephone number.
Investigators traced it to a prepaid phone connected to Gideon Marsh.
The evidence didn't solve the case.
But it strengthened the connection between Rick and the trafficking operation.
Megan felt the shape of the conspiracy becoming clearer.
Rick had never been merely a desperate borrower.
He had been useful to Kade.
He could approach women without attracting the attention a criminal organization might.
He could learn their routines.
Copy their documents.
Control their money.
Then hand over access to their lives.
The thought made Megan physically ill.
She remembered their first date.
Rick had appeared charming and attentive.
He remembered her favorite coffee.
He asked about her classes.
He told her she deserved someone who recognized her talent.
Later, when the relationship became controlling, she blamed herself for failing to see the change.
Now she wondered whether the change had been deliberate from the beginning.
Elena cautioned her against assuming every part of the relationship had been planned.
"We don't know when Rick began working with Kade," she said.
Megan appreciated the distinction.
But it didn't make the betrayal easier.
That evening, Laura Reed visited the support organization's office.
Megan met her in a private room with Elena present.
Laura carried the photograph of Avery.
She had looked at it so often that a crease was forming down one edge.
"She looks so tired," Laura whispered.
Megan nodded.
"But she's alive in this picture."
"Six weeks ago."
"Yes."
Laura closed her eyes.
"I keep thinking about everything I missed. Her birthdays. Christmas. Every Sunday she should have called."
Megan reached for her hand.
"We haven't given up."
Laura opened her eyes.
"Neither has she."
The two women sat together quietly.
After a while, Laura asked, "What are you going to do when this is over?"
Megan gave a small, uncertain laugh.
"I don't know."
"Good."
Megan looked surprised.
Laura smiled through her tears.
"It means you finally get to choose."
Later that night, Detective Grant received a call from a hospital in Connecticut.
A young woman had arrived at the emergency department under a false name.
She was frightened, dehydrated, and unwilling to speak to uniformed officers.
But she had told a nurse one sentence.
"Find the woman whose name they gave me."
The nurse asked what name.
The young woman answered:
"Megan Walsh."
When investigators carefully established her identity, they discovered her real name was Sophie Lin.
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She had disappeared fourteen months earlier.
And she knew exactly where Avery Reed had been taken.
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