Chapter 13 - Megan’s Password
Claire stared at her sister.
Megan looked genuinely stunned.
“I knew one password,” she said. “Years ago.”
Rick’s voice came through the speaker. “You used my laptop at Christmas.”
“To print boarding passes.”
“You saw the login.”
“I don’t remember it.”
Claire raised a hand.
“Everybody stop.”
Noah watched Megan with the wary expression he had once reserved for Rick.
That hurt Claire almost as much as the accusation.
“Megan,” Claire said, “did you ever access Rick’s laptop without him knowing?”
“No.”
“His email?”
“No.”
“Financial accounts?”
“No.”
“North Crown?”
“No.”
Rick said, “She hates me.”
Megan snapped, “That does not make me a criminal.”
“You told Claire to leave me.”
“Because you steal from children.”
Claire shut her eyes.
This was exactly how chaos survived: accusations multiplied faster than evidence.
Ward spoke through Claire’s second phone.
“Rick, what makes you believe Megan used the account?”
“Login history.”
“IP address?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Megan’s house.”
Everyone looked toward the router.
Megan laughed in disbelief. “Half the family has used Wi-Fi here.”
Ward said, “Exactly.”
Rick fell silent.
Claire asked, “When were the files created?”
“Last February.”
Megan frowned.
“I was in Arizona last February.”
Claire remembered.
Their mother had undergone knee surgery. Megan had stayed with her for three weeks.
Ward said, “That can be verified.”
Rick muttered, “Then someone used her network.”
Megan crossed her arms. “Or you’re lying.”
Noah interrupted. “Who knew Mom would come here if she left Dad?”
Claire looked at him.
Noah continued, “Everyone assumed we’d go to Aunt Megan’s.”
Megan went pale.
“The burner phone showed up here.”
Ward said, “Good point.”
Claire’s skin prickled.
If the network had been using Megan’s address or Wi-Fi, maybe it was not because Megan was involved.
Maybe because she was predictable.
Rick said, “There’s something I didn’t tell you.”
Megan laughed sharply. “Put it on the mountain.”
“What?”
“The mountain of things you didn’t tell us.”
Rick ignored her.
“Last year I installed remote-access software on Megan’s desktop.”
Megan stared.
“You what?”
“I needed to fix her printer.”
“You installed spyware?”
“No. Support software.”
“Did you remove it?”
Silence.
Megan stood.
“You left remote access on my computer?”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot?”
Claire said, “Rick, could someone have used that to route activity through Megan’s network?”
Ward answered first.
“Yes.”
Rick whispered, “Yes.”
Megan grabbed the edge of the table.
“So my house was their mask.”
“Possibly.”
“And you gave them access.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
Megan’s laugh turned into tears.
“That should be written on your tombstone.”
Claire touched her arm.
Megan pulled away, then apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I’m angry at everyone.”
“Join the club,” Noah said.
For the first time all day, Megan laughed.
Then Ward said, “Rick, where are you?”
Silence.
“Your family is being targeted partly because you keep operating alone.”
“I know.”
“Then come in.”
“I need to find Holt.”
“No.”
“He has Ethan’s mother.”
Noah went still.
“What?”
Rick continued, “That’s why Ethan won’t come in.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
“Holt took his mom?”
“I think so.”
“Think?”
“Ethan got a picture.”
Noah whispered, “Show us.”
Rick sent it.
The image showed Ethan’s mother, Karen Cole, sitting in her own kitchen. She looked unharmed, but a man’s hand rested on the chair behind her.
On the table was a black-and-red bracelet identical to Ethan’s.
Noah whispered, “That’s a threat.”
Ward asked, “Timestamp?”
“Thirty minutes ago.”
Morales dispatched officers.
Claire said, “Rick, stop chasing them.”
“I can trade the drive.”
“No.”
“It’s what they want.”
“It’s evidence.”
“It’s Ethan’s mother.”
“And if you trade it, what stops them from coming back?”
Rick had no answer.
Noah said, “Dad.”
Rick went silent.
It was the first time Noah had called him Dad since the confrontation.
“You took my eight hundred because you thought one payment would solve the next problem.”
Rick breathed shakily.
“You took Lily’s money. You borrowed against the house. You used Ethan. Every time you trade something to make the danger go away, you make the next danger bigger.”
Claire looked at her son.
Noah continued, “Stop paying them.”
Rick whispered, “What if Karen gets hurt?”
“Then help the police find her.”
“I can’t live with that.”
Noah’s eyes filled.
“You already made me live with all of this.”
Silence.
Then Rick said, “Okay.”
One word.
Noah sat.
Rick continued, “I’m coming in.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Where?”
Ward gave instructions for a controlled surrender at a federal facility.
Rick repeated them.
Then he said, “Claire?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry.”
She did not answer.
“I know that doesn’t fix it.”
“No.”
“I know.”
“Just get there.”
The call ended.
Two hours later, Rick entered federal custody.
He looked terrible.
Unshaven. Hollow-eyed. Wearing the same clothes from the previous day.
Claire watched through reinforced glass as agents searched him.
Noah stood beside her.
Rick saw them.
His face broke.
Noah did not wave.
Ward escorted Rick into an interview room.
Ethan remained missing.
Karen Cole was not at her house.
But Rick had brought something important.
Not the second drive.
A handwritten notebook.
Ward opened it.
Pages of dates, initials, payment amounts, addresses.
Claire recognized Rick’s handwriting.
Noah whispered, “What is that?”
Rick answered from across the table.
“My gambling ledger.”
Ward turned pages.
Then stopped.
“What?”
Rick pointed.
“There.”
One entry had no wager.
No team.
No odds.
Just a date from eighteen months earlier and three words.
N.B. - 800 - DECLINED.
Noah stared.
May you like
Rick whispered, “They tried to buy you before I ever stole from you.”
Before Rick’s surrender, Megan walked through her house with a technician who disabled the remote-access software on her old computer. She watched lines of connection logs scroll across the screen. Unknown sessions had opened at 2:13 a.m., 4:08 a.m., and during the exact week she had been in Arizona. “They were inside my house without coming through the door,” she whispered. The technician replied, “Digitally, yes.” Megan looked toward the room where Lily had slept. Claire squeezed her sister’s hand. Megan had always mocked Claire for being too cautious online. Now she shook with the violation of being used as infrastructure in somebody else’s crime. “I thought home meant walls,” Megan said. Claire answered, “So did I.”
