Page 223 of Broken Oath

W. PARKER — ACTIVE

LAST VERIFICATION: ELEVEN DAYS AGO

Her brother was alive.

Not was.

Is.

The difference struck her again.

Five years.

Five years spent visiting a grave with no body beneath it.

Five years mourning a man who had been breathing somewhere beyond her reach.

The thought made her sick.

Fathom continued searching while the others prepared.

Every answer uncovered three more questions.

Why had Warden kept Wade alive?

Why move him from one location to another?

Why spend millions hiding him?

Marcus Lane wasn’t merciful.

Merciful men didn’t delete warnings that could have saved six lives.

Merciful men didn’t bury investigations or send execution teams into snowstorms.

Sarah looked at Wade’s photograph.

“He saw something.”

The room quieted.

She hadn’t intended to say it aloud.

Rook stopped beside the operations table.

“A witness.”

Sarah nodded.

“He knew something they couldn’t allow him to reveal.”

Fathom stopped typing.

“I don’t think that’s the entire reason.”

Sarah turned toward him.

He opened a series of medical reports and psychological evaluations.