It showed a hospital room.
She was lying unconscious in a bed.
Atlas was lying on the floor beside her.
Daniel sat in a chair.
And beside him stood Vance.
Mara looked at the date.
Six years earlier.
Her eyes moved to the bottom of the photograph.
Someone had written:
SHE REMEMBERS NOTHING.
Mara looked at Daniel.
“Who wrote that?”
He looked away.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought it was true.”
She stared.
“What changed?”
Daniel whispered, “You remembered me.”
Mara said nothing.
“You didn't remember Baltimore.”
“No.”
“You didn't remember the operation.”
“No.”
“But you remembered me.”
She stared at him.
“How?”
“You saw me.”
“When?”
“In the hospital.”
Mara closed her eyes.
A memory surfaced.
A man's hand.
A wedding ring.
A voice.
Her own voice whispering.
“Don't leave.”
Mara opened her eyes.
Daniel was crying.
“I stayed.”
She stared at him.
“You stayed.”
“Yes.”
“And then?”
“I became your husband.”
“Why?”
“Because I loved you.”
Mara's face hardened.
“That doesn't excuse lying.”
“No.”
“Nothing does.”
“I know.”
She looked at Vance.
“You knew he married me.”
“Yes.”
“You allowed it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Vance answered.
“Because we believed you were safer without the truth.”
Mara laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You erased my life and called it protection.”
Neither man answered.
She looked at Daniel.
“Did you ever intend to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After we found Victor.”
“You found him.”
“No.”
“Then why did you stay silent?”
Daniel looked at the ground.
“Because every time I tried, you looked happy.”
Mara stared at him.
“And you decided happiness mattered more than truth.”
“Yes.”
“That was not your decision to make.”
“I know.”
She turned away.
For several seconds, there was only rain.
Then Atlas barked from inside the house.
Mara looked toward the sound.
Daniel smiled sadly.
“He remembers.”
Mara stared.
“What?”
“The dog.”
She looked at him.
“He remembers Baltimore.”
“How?”
“Smell.”
Mara's mind returned to the earlier message.
TRUST THE DOG.
She looked at Daniel.
“Take me to the blue door.”
His face changed.
“No.”
“Take me.”
“Mara.”
“Now.”
Vance stepped forward.