Chapter 5 - The Contents of the Past
Bradley let out a bitter, mocking laugh from across the table. "She gave you a box of trash! Fitting for a freeloader!"
Sean ignored the noise in the room. His fingers shook as he pulled the twine away and slowly lifted the cardboard lid.
Inside the box was no cash. There were no stock certificates, no jewelry, and no car keys.
Lying on the very top was a laminated newspaper clipping from the Sacramento Bee, dated June 14, 2018:
"MISSING: 16-Year-Old Maya Hayes Last Seen in South Lake Tahoe."
Every drop of blood drained from Sean's face. His breath caught violently in his throat.
Beneath the clipping was a thick leather dossier stamped with the emblem of Blackwood Private Investigations.
Sean opened the folder with trembling fingers. Inside were sixty pages of detailed surveillance logs, forensic witness interviews, medical records, and high-resolution photographs taken over the past six months.
The final page contained a color photograph of a twenty-two-year-old woman with Sean's exact amber eyes and dark wavy hair, smiling warmly as she taught an art class in a sunny studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
May you like
Attached to the photograph was an official birth certificate, a certified identity restoration document, and a first-class train ticket to Santa Fe dated for tomorrow morning.
At the bottom of the box was a sealed envelope containing a handwritten letter on Evelyn’s floral stationery.
