Page 157 of The Session

Tru didn’t bother looking back. She was too focused on what was ahead. “That’ll be us if I’m not careful!”

She spun the wheel to the left, then again to the right, and took them down another waterway until they emerged into the open ocean.

Mark looked back and breathed a sigh of relief. They were free for the moment but headed into the unknown. So far, the only person he could trust had died before they could meet.

He felt the phone in his pocket and wondered what other secrets it held.

The Offer

Mark took over from Tru so she could rest, piloting the boat on a course toward Miami. When he wasn’t checking to make sure they weren’t being pursued, he scrolled through Kevin’s phone, trying to make sense of the records in its folders. There were lots of spreadsheets with cryptic titles that seemed to imply their importance, but Mark couldn’t make sense of it.

He’d hoped to find a master document that explained everything, but he realized Kevin had been accumulating data haphazardly as McCready sent it to him. He’d probably thought he had more time.

Mark backed out of the photo library and checked the other apps. Other than the photo album, the notepad, and the messaging application, it was a bare-bones Android phone—clearly something Kevin had acquired for clandestine purposes.

The only unusual app was a solitaire game that didn’t come standard with the phone.

Mark opened it and found it played like a regular game. There was nothing suspicious about it.

He put the phone back into his pocket to focus on piloting the boat and let his mind wander. Then he recalled having heard about fake apps that let you hide data while looking and behaving like simple games, so he pulled the phone back out.

He opened the solitaire app again and tapped the gear for the settings menu. There was a log-in option and a font control—nothing else that stood out. But why would an app like this have a log-in? He tapped it. A box opened, asking for a passcode. Mark entered his name. The box vanished, and the app performed a virtual 3D rotation, revealing a secret file folder.

Mark opened it. Inside were more folders, but these had names: Morris, Mom, Dad, Tru, Arnold . . .

He made sure the boat was still on course and they weren’t being followed, then started reading through the files.

“How are you doing?” Lightman asked, just as Mark finished reading the files.

Mark slipped the phone into his pocket.

Tru emerged, followed by Marnie.

“Want me to take over?” she offered.

“Sure,” Mark replied as he slid out of the seat.

“Are you okay?” Tru asked.

Mark backed up against the opposite side of the deck and stared at all of them.

“Are you seasick?” Marnie asked.

Mark knew he had to make a decision. There was no easy answer.

“I found more information,” he told them.

“What else?” Tru asked.

“Enough to make sure that Morris goes to prison,” Mark replied.

“Well, that’s great,” Lightman said.

Mark could see Marnie watching him closely.

“Enough for all of you to go to jail,” he told them.

“What are you saying?” Tru asked.