I stared at the words until they seemed to lose their meaning.<\/p>\n
THE TWO SURVIVORS.<\/p>\n
The photograph beneath them showed Viktor younger by perhaps fifteen years. His hair was darker, his face thinner, but there was no mistaking him.<\/p>\n
Beside his photograph was mine.<\/p>\n
I had never seen the picture before.<\/p>\n
It showed me standing outside the same medical conference where the other photograph had been taken. I was speaking to a man whose face had been deliberately blurred.<\/p>\n
Viktor noticed my expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've never seen that image,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how can you not know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I wasn't supposed to survive that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words settled heavily between us.<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat night?\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed the notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy partner's death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said he died three months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was another incident years ago. Most of the people involved were killed. The official report described it as an industrial accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd unofficially?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone wanted the report to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
Instead, he took the notebook and walked to the desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father knew more than I realized.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he knew you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n
I moved closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor opened the notebook again.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are references to my company throughout these pages. Not accusations. Observations. Your father was tracking shipments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned several pages.<\/p>\n
Most contained technical notes, dates, and initials. Some were written in German. Others were in English.<\/p>\n
Then I saw a phrase repeated three times.<\/p>\n
REHABILITATION EQUIPMENT.<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father repaired medical equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this is about his work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor pointed to a handwritten number.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at this.\u201d<\/p>\n
It matched the reference code from the photograph in his presentation.<\/p>\n
I looked from the page to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would my father write down your company's internal code?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he was investigating something inside it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he working for you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer irritated me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always say you don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause people who claim to know everything in this situation usually end up dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wasn't being dramatic.<\/p>\n
His voice was flat.<\/p>\n
That frightened me more.<\/p>\n
I picked up the encrypted drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou brought me here because you thought I could help you understand these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now you're telling me you don't know what's on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI've never had access to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how did it get here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy guess is your father put it here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the accident?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost certainly.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned the drive over.<\/p>\n
There was a tiny mark etched into the metal.<\/p>\n
The same silver emblem from the black case.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have a computer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we open it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if the people watching this house expect us to find the drive, they'll also expect us to try opening it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the doorway.<\/p>\n
The house suddenly felt too small.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy office.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou've forgotten that your office is the place where this started.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven't forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n
He met my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither have they.\u201d<\/p>\n
We heard a car outside.<\/p>\n
Both of us went silent.<\/p>\n
Headlights swept across the living-room curtains.<\/p>\n
Viktor moved toward the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't stand near the windows.\u201d<\/p>\n
I followed him.<\/p>\n
The car stopped.<\/p>\n
Nobody got out.<\/p>\n
Thirty seconds passed.<\/p>\n
Then a second car turned the corner and disappeared.<\/p>\n
Viktor watched the street through a narrow gap in the curtain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey're checking whether we're here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they did the same thing before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe night my partner died.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still haven't told me what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I know whether I can trust you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou came to me because you needed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou put my photograph in a presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about my father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew someone was looking for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you still don't trust me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we're even.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, he smiled without arrogance.<\/p>\n
It was brief.<\/p>\n
Almost tired.<\/p>\n
We returned to the study.<\/p>\n
I picked up the notebook again.<\/p>\n
A folded piece of paper slipped from between two pages and fell to the floor.<\/p>\n
I unfolded it.<\/p>\n
It was a list of names.<\/p>\n
I recognized two immediately.<\/p>\n
The man who had visited my father at the rehabilitation center.<\/p>\n
And Viktor's former partner.<\/p>\n
One name had been crossed out.<\/p>\n
The other had a date beside it.<\/p>\n
My father had written another note underneath.<\/p>\n
If Viktor comes, don't give him the drive until Anna understands the first file.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour name is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor took the paper.<\/p>\n
His expression hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
I handed it to him.<\/p>\n
He read it.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father didn't trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he expected me to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it does.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pointed to the words.<\/p>\n
He comes because he needs the file.<\/p>\n
Viktor stared at the page.<\/p>\n
Then something changed in his expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He folded the paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe file isn't the drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first file.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered the photograph on his laptop.<\/p>\n
My photograph.<\/p>\n
The altered background.<\/p>\n
The conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first file is already in your possession.\u201d<\/p>\n
I understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you need me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you were the only person who could recognize what had been changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse quickened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew the photograph was altered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wanted me to confirm it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down at the notebook.<\/p>\n
My father had known all of this.<\/p>\n
Maybe not every detail.<\/p>\n
But enough.<\/p>\n
Enough to leave instructions.<\/p>\n
Enough to anticipate that Viktor would come.<\/p>\n
Enough to understand that I would eventually be pulled into it.<\/p>\n
Then I noticed a final line at the bottom of the page.<\/p>\n
It had been written much more recently.<\/p>\n
The handwriting was shaky.<\/p>\n
If Anna and Viktor meet, the danger is already inside the company.<\/p>\n
I looked at Viktor.<\/p>\n
Neither of us spoke.<\/p>\n
Then his phone rang.<\/p>\n
He answered.<\/p>\n
His face changed before the caller had finished speaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you certain?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't move him.\u201d<\/p>\n
He ended the call.<\/p>\n
I knew before he said anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone entered the rehabilitation center.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is he?\u201d<\/p>\n
Viktor looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey took him.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the words until they seemed to lose their meaning. THE TWO SURVIVORS. The photograph beneath them showed Viktor younger by perhaps fifteen years. His hair was darker, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5562,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550\/revisions\/5562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}