The Reveal by Julie Leto

asked.
    Macy motioned to Brynn to trade seats, which she did without a word. Sean nearly snagged her wrist to keep her close, but the instinct dispersed the minute Macy slid beside him and began to speak.
    “Actually, no. I don’t think so,” she said. “It took me a while to piece together a timeline. From what I can tell from the embedded codes in these photos and from the notes I found in Abe’s private papers, he helped Jayda fake her death and create a new identity in San Francisco.”
    Sean wasn’t sure what had gotten caught in his throat, but whatever it was, it was dry and wooly and large. He attempted to force out one of the million questions jockeying for position in his head, but Macy saved him the agony by continuing.
    “See? This picture?” she said, dragging a second photo forward. “It’s taken on Pier 39. I believe the New Orleans reference in the first photo spoke not to her location but yours.”
    Sean slid the picture closer again. He saw no resemblance to Jayda in the smiling Asian model and saw nothing of himself in the Caucasian man beside her.
    “You’re sure?”
    Macy pursed her lips. “This kind of code reading is not precise, but Abe knew it was my expertise. Some breakers excel at mathematical puzzles, which, of course, I can do, but others, like me, do even better with visual ciphers and metaphoric messages. It makes sense that he’d try to communicate with me this way. But to be honest, a lot of it was guesswork until I found this.”
    She handed him the third photograph. This one had a distinctly blonde bride looking longingly into the eyes of her tall, dark, handsome and nondescript groom. Sean saw nothing unusual or telling in the picture until Macy tapped her fingernail on the charms dangling from the bride’s wrist.
    Then he looked closer. One charm was the Korean symbol for Jayda’s name. The second was the symbol for death. The third, partially eradicated with a crude pencil eraser, was the symbol for lie.
    Jayda’s death had been a lie.
    Sean pushed away from the table. He was suddenly aware of the baby chatting nonsensically in the crib. Drawn to the sound, Sean watched her wiggle her fingers about an inch from her eyes then turn her hand palm in and palm out.
    The pacifier muted her giggles, but her joy in discovery was unmistakable.
    Lucky kid. Sometimes, discovery sucked.
    “So you figured out that Jayda had faked her death. Why contact me? She obviously didn’t want me to know.”
    She moved the New Orleans shot to the forefront again. “Abe wanted you to know.”
    “Why send a courier? Why not just call?”
    “Jayda was a high-value asset. I couldn’t risk sharing any information about her over the phone. I figured I’d send you copies of the photographs and you’d come to me to help you sort them out. You know what I do.”
    “You couldn’t have just invited me to visit?”
    Macy laughed. “With a newborn in the house and Dante out of the country? That would have looked suspicious, especially to you.”
    “Why didn’t you use your software?” Brynn asked. “It worked on me.”
    “You hadn’t heard Dante’s voice for years. I didn’t think it would fool Sean, and if he started asking around, questioning why Dante was trying to lure him to France, people who didn’t need to be suspicious might have become so. Look, how and why I made my decisions are moot points. The information is what’s important.”
    Sean jabbed his hands through his hair. As much as he hated her reasoning, Sean knew Macy was right. What was done was done.
    “Your guy witnessed my kidnapping?”
    “He waited at your residence for a couple of days, but when you didn’t show up, I ordered him to track you down. He saw the attack, but he was outmanned and outgunned. He collected enough information so that I could find you, and I called Brynn. You did a terrific job, by the way. I’ll have to remember Titan in the future.”
    Brynn showed no sign of being flattered. “Why