Chapter 13 - THE RED THREADThe red thread around Noah’s key looked meaningless.
It wasn’t.
Richard used color-coded keys on construction sites.
Red:
Restricted mechanical or utility access.
Blue:
Client access.
Yellow:
Temporary subcontractor.
The habit came from Hale Renovation.
Police found a photograph in Patrick Sloan’s work laptop.
A key board inside a company storage facility.
Several brass keys with red thread.
One tag:
H-17 LOWER
No property listed.
Hale Renovation’s accounting records showed a small company-owned farmhouse labeled Project H-17.
Purchased for renovation and resale.
Work stopped after zoning problems.
Location:
Forty miles northwest.
Police had already searched the main house after my text ping placed Emily’s phone near a different storage property.
The farmhouse had been overlooked because Richard claimed it had been sold.
It had not.
Title remained with an LLC he controlled.
Ortiz obtained a warrant.
They found the farmhouse empty.
But the basement door had a brass mortise lock matching Noah’s key pattern.
Noah’s key did not fit.
Different cut.
Same system.
Inside:
Two mattresses.
Food.
Plastic restraints.
A medication bottle belonging to Patrick Sloan.
Still no people.
Two captives.
May you like
One network of places.
Someone was moving them.
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