Chapter 45 - The File Amir Took
Samira refused to let the investigators chase Amir without her. She knew the consequences of being treated as a problem to solve, and she would not allow her brother to be pulled into another interview room before he was ready.
“He came to the nonprofit because he wanted something,” she said. “He took the file because he was afraid someone else would.”
“What was in it?” the investigator asked.
“His relocation papers, maybe. Records from when he was a minor.”
The nonprofit confirmed that the missing file contained a copy of Amir’s placement agreement, medical records, and a contact sheet. It had been stored in an office accessible to staff and case managers. No one knew who had given Amir the key.
Nadia looked at Samira. “If he’s alive, we can help him.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want help.”
“Then he can say that himself.”
Samira’s eyes flashed. “You don’t know what happened to him.”
“No,” Nadia said. “I don’t. I’m saying he deserves to choose.”
The words seemed to reach Samira. She agreed to send Amir a message through the nonprofit’s attorney. It said only that she was alive, that she wanted to see him, and that no one would force him to stay.
We waited two days. On the third, an envelope arrived at the farm addressed to Samira. It contained the missing contact sheet and a note written in rough handwriting.
I know what they told you. I know the name they gave me. I’m not coming back until I know who ordered it.
Samira sat at the kitchen table, reading the note over and over.
“Does he know the name?” I asked.
“I don’t know. He always wanted to know why I was sent away. Maybe someone told him.”
The contact sheet contained a list of case workers, doctors, and officials who had handled Amir’s placement. Several names were familiar from the HARBOR records. One was new: Deputy Director Lewis Grant.
The investigator checked the personnel database. Grant had overseen the relocation program after Harlan retired. He had never appeared in the Kunar files, but he had signed off on two of the later transfers.
“Is he still alive?” Nadia asked.
“Yes,” the investigator replied. “He’s scheduled to speak at a veterans’ policy conference tomorrow in Washington.”
My father heard the name and went pale. “Grant chaired the review board that approved Ryan’s logistics contracts.”
“That was years later,” I said.
“He knew Arthur?” Ethan asked.
“He knew the family. He came to Ryan’s promotion dinner.” My father hesitated. “I thought he was just another official.”
The conference organizers confirmed that Grant would attend. The investigator requested an interview. His attorney replied that Grant would not discuss HARBOR without receiving the documents first.
Samira read the contact sheet again. “Amir’s file says he was moved to a family in Maryland. This name is written beside the placement.”
She pointed to a line near the bottom of the page.
Sponsor: E. Graves.
Ethan was standing in the doorway. He went still.
“That can’t be right,” I said.
“I never sponsored anyone,” he replied. “I didn’t even know Amir’s name.”
The investigator took the page for examination. The line appeared to be written in a different hand, added after the rest of the form.
Ethan looked at Samira. “I’m sorry. I won’t ask you to trust me based on my word. I’ll help the investigators find out what that signature means.”
Samira folded the note from Amir and put it in her pocket.
“Find out who used your name,” she said. “Then we’ll decide what happens next.”
That night, a message arrived from an unknown number. It contained a photograph of the veterans’ conference stage, taken from the audience.
On the back of the printed image, someone had written:
Grant will tell you what happened to Amir. Ask him who paid for the placement.
May you like
The conference began at nine the next morning.
And Ethan’s name was already printed on the official guest list as Amir’s sponsor.
