Chapter 15 - Forty-Eight Hours Before the Harbor Went Dark
The forty-eight-hour deadline became the most frightening clock Megan had ever watched.
Every hour that passed brought Laura Reed closer to an unknown fate.
Megan wanted to call her.
Wanted to demand answers.
Wanted to find the person responsible and scream until someone told her where Laura was.
Instead, she worked with the people investigating the case.
It was harder than running blindly toward danger.
But it was also the first time she'd chosen patience without being forced into silence.
Detective Grant requested another interview.
Elena accompanied Megan.
They reviewed Laura's recent messages and the interactions that might have led to her disappearance.
Megan remembered something she had initially considered unimportant.
Laura had mentioned a woman who claimed Avery had left something behind before vanishing.
"A photograph?" Tessa asked.
"No. A small notebook, maybe. Laura said the woman promised to return it."
"Did she mention where they planned to meet?"
Megan frowned.
"At Laura's house, I think."
Tessa nodded.
"That fits what we've established."
The detective showed Megan a photograph of Marlene Voss.
Megan recognized the woman from a picture Laura had forwarded in an earlier message.
"That's her."
Tessa made a note.
"Thank you."
"Can I ask something?"
"Yes."
"If Marlene helped Sophie before, why would she take Laura?"
"We don't know whether she acted willingly. Her role is still under investigation."
Megan studied the photograph.
Marlene looked ordinary.
Middle-aged.
Tired.
The kind of woman who might stand beside someone in a grocery line without attracting attention.
It disturbed Megan that cruelty so rarely announced itself with a frightening face.
After the interview, Elena suggested a quiet afternoon.
Megan agreed.
But when they arrived at the support office, Nina was waiting.
She held a long cardboard tube.
"I brought something."
Megan looked confused.
"What is it?"
"Your old school drawings."
Megan stared.
"I thought Rick threw them away."
"He brought several boxes to the shop last year and asked if we could store them. When you left, I kept the ones with your name on them."
Nina opened the tube.
Inside were architectural sketches from Megan's years at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Floor plans.
Furniture layouts.
Lighting studies.
A watercolor rendering of a community center.
Megan touched the paper carefully.
"I remember this."
Nina smiled.
"You designed it for that assignment about public spaces."
Megan examined the drawing.
It showed a building with bright windows, open corridors, and several small rooms arranged around a central garden.
Her professor had written a comment in blue ink.
Your greatest strength is understanding how a space can make people feel welcome.
Megan felt tears rise.
Rick had mocked her drawings.
He said interior design was a hobby for spoiled people.
When she left school, he told her she was finally becoming realistic.
Now she held evidence of the person she'd been before his voice became louder than her own.
"I think I want to finish," she whispered.
Nina smiled.
"Then finish."
Megan looked up.
"What if I'm not good enough anymore?"
"Then you learn."
"What if I fail?"
"Then you try again."
Megan laughed.
Nina reached for her hand.
"You don't have to be perfect to begin."
Across Newport, Damian was reviewing historical construction plans with investigators.
The two dock buildings identified from Victor's photographs shared a distinctive feature.
A narrow service passage connected the older office to a storage structure behind it.
According to the plans, the passage had been sealed decades earlier.
But aerial photographs suggested the rear structure remained accessible.
Damian pointed toward the drawing.
"This used to connect to the shoreline access road."
An investigator leaned closer.
"Is that road still open?"
"Officially, no. But maintenance crews used it after the main gate was closed."
"Who controls it now?"
"A company affiliated with Blackwater."
The team adjusted its surveillance plan.
Federal agents and local officers coordinated to identify who was entering and leaving the area.
They were concerned about Laura.
They were also concerned that Avery and other missing women might be nearby.
At sunset, a surveillance team observed movement at the dock property.
A vehicle arrived.
Several people entered the building.
One matched Gideon Marsh's description.
Shortly afterward, a second vehicle departed toward the harbor.
Investigators followed it.
The vehicle stopped near an old marine repair yard.
Its driver met a man wearing a dark cap.
They exchanged a small package.
Then both left separately.
The package was recovered after the man was detained on an outstanding warrant.
Inside were identification documents and cash.
One identification card bore Avery Reed's photograph.
The name was false.
The birth date was false.
But the photograph was unmistakable.
Investigators now had reason to believe preparations were being made to move her.
A search operation at the suspected holding property was authorized and coordinated.
Megan learned only that evening that police believed they were close.
Elena cautioned her not to expect immediate news.
Megan nodded.
She understood.
But she couldn't sleep.
At eleven forty, a message arrived from an unknown number.
RICK SAYS YOU STILL LOVE HIM. COME PROVE HIM WRONG.
Attached was a photograph of Rick sitting beside a window.
A woman stood behind him.
Her face was partially obscured.
But Megan recognized the blue scarf hanging from her wrist.
It was the same scarf investigators had collected.
Or an identical one.
Megan immediately forwarded the message to Detective Grant.
Tessa called.
"Don't respond."
"I won't."
"Do you recognize the location?"
Megan studied the photograph.
A window overlooked a marina.
Behind Rick was a wooden sign.
Only part of the lettering was visible.
NORTH BE—
Megan remembered something.
Rick had once taken her to a seafood restaurant near an old boatyard.
He'd complained about waiting for a man who never arrived.
The sign outside had read NORTH BEACON MARINE.
She told Tessa.
Within minutes, investigators confirmed that North Beacon Marine had previously leased space to a company connected to Victor Kade.
The property stood several miles from the dock building already under surveillance.
Megan felt her heart pounding.
The photograph might have been a trap.
But it had revealed something important.
Rick was no longer hiding behind Victor.
May you like
He was standing directly beside evidence of the network.
And he was making mistakes.
