Chapter 11 - Jenna Had Built An Emergency File
Ethan's claim sounded impossible until Detective Bennett explained it.
Jenna hadn't planned the current events.
She had created an emergency archive.
A dead-man file.
If anything happened to her, selected records were supposed to be released to Marcus.
They never were.
Ethan said he had helped build the system at Jenna's request.
“Why him?” Marcus asked.
“Because Sophie trusted him.”
Ethan had been working for Thomas Walsh when Sophie's case began.
Unlike Thomas, Ethan eventually became disturbed by what he saw.
He quietly helped Jenna copy records.
After Sophie's removal from her mother's home, Ethan later became one of her foster parents through a kinship-like placement arranged by people connected to the case.
Marcus struggled to follow the moral mess.
“So Ethan helped Jenna expose Thomas?”
“According to Ethan.”
“And then worked for him?”
“He says he stayed to collect evidence.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
Bennett wasn't endorsing the story.
Only reporting it.
Ethan claimed Jenna's emergency archive had been compromised shortly before her death.
Someone accessed it.
Copied documents.
Deleted delivery instructions.
After Jenna died, Ethan assumed the evidence had vanished.
Years later, files began appearing again.
The forged placement authorization used templates originally stored inside Jenna's archive.
That meant whoever created the current scheme had access to material Jenna collected.
“Could Claire have accessed it?” Marcus asked.
“Possibly.”
“Could Ethan?”
“Definitely.”
“Could Sophie?”
“Some parts.”
“Rebecca?”
“Unclear.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“So everybody.”
“That's why we investigate.”
Bennett then showed him something Ethan had surrendered.
An old video recorded by Jenna.
Marcus's breath caught before it even played.
Jenna sat in her car.
Alive.
Hair tied back.
No makeup.
Tired.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Marcus, if you're seeing this, something went wrong.”
He covered his mouth.
Bennett offered to stop.
He shook his head.
Jenna continued.
She explained Sophie's case.
Thomas Walsh's referral network.
Her fear that children were being described as unstable so adults could move them into expensive programs without fully understanding alternatives.
She admitted crossing professional lines.
She admitted becoming obsessed.
Then she said something Marcus never expected.
“Claire tried to help me at first.”
Marcus stared.
“She got scared when her father threatened her career. I was angry with her. I said things I regret.”
The dead were restoring nuance the living had erased.
“Claire isn't evil,” Jenna continued. “But she is terrified of conflict, and when she's afraid, she lets stronger people define reality for her.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
That sounded painfully accurate.
Jenna's final warning concerned Ethan.
“I don't know if I trust him. I know he's helping me. Those are not the same thing.”
Marcus looked at Bennett.
“Jenna didn't trust him.”
“No.”
The video continued.
“If anything happens, don't turn this into a mystery about my death. That's not what this is about.”
Marcus froze.
Jenna had apparently anticipated exactly the kind of conclusion they had begun making.
“My work is about the children who are still alive.”
Marcus began crying.
That was Jenna.
Always redirecting attention toward someone else.
The video ended.
Bennett waited.
Finally Marcus asked, “What happened to the emergency archive?”
“We're tracing access.”
“And Ethan?”
“Still being interviewed.”
Marcus stared at the blank screen.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message from Claire.
I FOUND SOMETHING IN MY FATHER'S STORAGE UNIT. YOU NEED TO SEE IT BEFORE YOU DECIDE WHAT I AM.
Marcus nearly deleted it.
Instead, he sent it to Bennett.
They drove to the storage facility together.
Claire was waiting outside unit 214.
Inside were dozens of boxes belonging to Thomas Walsh.
Claire opened one.
Rows of family files filled it.
Each labeled with a child's name.
Marcus scanned them.
Then stopped.
MAYA REED.
The file had been created six months before Jenna died.
May you like
Maya had been three years old.
And Thomas Walsh had been collecting information about Marcus's daughter while Jenna was still alive.
