Page 128 of The Session

Lisbeth studied the photo for a moment. “No.”

Mark pulled up a photograph of his father. “What about him?”

She shook her head. “No, I know who that is.”

Mark had one more thought and started searching on his phone for a photograph. “How about him?”

She pointed to the photograph on his phone. “Yep, that’s him. Who is he?”

Mark felt the energy drain from his body, replaced by a sense of dread.

“His name is Nathan Morris. He works for Summit Strategies.”

“Well, I’d never seen him here before. I guess he and Kevin went way back.” She shrugged.

“You could say that. Do you remember anything about what they talked about?”

“No. I couldn’t tell if they were arguing or having a friendly conversation. Kevin was always very chill, sometimes hard to read. You couldn’t tell what was really going on there.”

Morris had flat-out told Mark he hadn’t been to the island in years and had pretended not to know they had a medical clinic there. He’d ensured the real cause of death was papered over. This wasn’t looking good.

“You really are Kevin’s brother,” Lisbeth said.

“I guess so, but why do you say that?” Mark asked.

“You two have the same look on your face when you’re thinking something over.”

“I wish I had the chance to meet him,” Mark said.

Lisbeth stepped back, leaned against the center counter, and watched Mark for a while, as if deciding something.

For his part, Mark couldn’t stop thinking about Morris.

“Kevin left something that night,” Lisbeth said suddenly, “and I didn’t know what to make of it. He wasn’t what I’d call forgetful.”

She knelt down behind the counter, and Mark heard a key turn in a lock and a safe door open.

She stood back up and set an Android phone on the bar.

“He had this with him that night, which was kind of odd, because Kevin used an iPhone. I saw it with him before and after he spoke to that other guy, Morris. And then when he left, it was sitting on the bar. I put it in the safe. And the next day, well, he was gone.”

“Have you been able to unlock it?” Mark asked.

“No, I haven’t touched it since then. It’s just been sitting inside the safe.”

Mark picked up the phone and turned it over. It didn’t have much wear on it, which suggested it was a backup.

“Take it,” she said.

“You trust me?” Mark asked.

“I don’t know, but looking at you is kind of like looking at him, so it seems like it makes sense.”

Mark stared at the phone, wondering what was inside.

He thanked her, then walked back to the SUV and noticed the driver wasn’t in the vehicle. He assumed the man was using the restroom and climbed into the back seat—only to realize someone else was already sitting inside.

Inversion