CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
The photos told the story of Kate Wise's family life in intimate detail.
Allen is pushing Michael on the swings at Riverside Park.
Kate is loading groceries into his car outside the supermarket.
A distant shot of Melissa arriving at Kate's house with her own daughter, little Michelle, for what appeared to be a Sunday family dinner.
Terry, Michelle's husband, washing his car in the driveway of the house he shared with Melissa and Michelle.
Diana had organized the photographs by family member, creating separate sections for each person she would need to approach and manipulate to achieve her ultimate goal.
Kate's section dominated the center of the board, but it was the smaller collections devoted to Melissa, Terry, and Michelle that Diana found herself studying most intently as she refined her plans for infiltration.
The years in prison had taught her the value of blending in, of becoming forgettable and unremarkable when the situation demanded it.
But this required the opposite skill set.
She needed to be memorable enough to establish trust, engaging enough to be welcomed into their lives, but not so distinctive that she would stand out in anyone's memory later.
She has several ideas in mind but had not settle on one yet.
Diana had spent considerable time creating false identities and how she might implement them. Should she be Jasmine Walsh, the education specialist? Or maybe Laura Goode, the FBI colleague. Ah, or Maria Sandberg, the neighborhood newcomer looking to make friends.
Each identity had its own merits and purpose, its own pathway into the Wise family's inner circle. Diana had learned during her years of planning that the key to successful infiltration was having multiple options, multiple approaches that could be adapted based on circumstances and opportunities.
She reached for the small wooden box that contained her collection of fake identification cards.
The IDs were professionally made, purchased through contacts she had developed during her time in prison from people who understood the value of anonymity and new beginnings.
Each card bore her photograph but with different names, addresses, and biographical details that supported the various personas she had created.
Diana held up the ID for Jennifer Walsh and studied it in the mirror. The photograph showed her with darker hair and glasses, dressed in the conservative clothing appropriate for an education professional. She had practiced the signature dozens of times until it looked natural and confident.
Diana set down the ID and picked up another photograph from her collection, this one showing Kate and Allen entering a restaurant, clearly celebrating something special based on their formal attire and the champagne glasses on their table.
She had taken this photo three weeks ago through the window of Romano's Italian Restaurant, and it had confirmed something she had suspected but not yet verified.
They were planning a wedding.
Diana had overheard enough conversations during her surveillance to piece together the timeline.
Kate and Allen were engaged, planning a ceremony for some time during the coming months.
And that meant the family would be gathering more frequently for wedding preparations, creating additional opportunities for Diana to insert herself into their lives.
She didn't yet have all the details worked out.
The specific timing, the exact sequence of approaches, and the precise methods she would use to destroy each relationship and family connection that gave Allen's life meaning.
But she knew she needed to get close to them, closer than any of them would ever suspect.
Diana stood up and walked to the largest photograph on her corkboard, a recent image of Kate that she had captured outside the FBI field office.
Kate Wise, the miracle mother, the legendary agent brought out of retirement to solve cases that stumped younger investigators.
Nearly sixty years old but still sharp enough to be considered indispensable by her colleagues.
The irony wasn't lost on Diana that her revenge plan had somehow come to focus on Kate Wise rather than on Allen himself.
Initially, Diana had planned to target Allen directly, to make him understand the pain of losing everything he cared about by destroying his relationship with Kate and his connection to Michael.
But as she had studied Kate's life and family connections, Diana had realized that Kate represented something much more significant than just a romantic partner.
Kate was the center of a complex web of relationships that included not only Allen and Michael, but also Melissa, Terry, and Michelle.
She was the matriarch of a blended family that had found happiness and stability despite the challenges they had faced.
Destroying Kate would destroy everything Allen had built for himself. It would shatter the family structure that had given his life meaning and purpose. It would leave him isolated and broken in ways that simply targeting him directly never could have achieved.
That was fine with Diana. Better than fine, actually. The more comprehensive the destruction, the more complete her revenge would be.
She gathered her fake IDs and returned them to their wooden box, then began organizing the photographs into neat stacks based on the chronological order in which she planned to use them. Each image represented a piece of intelligence about her targets' routines, preferences, and vulnerabilities.
Diana had learned patience during her years in prison, but that patience was beginning to wear thin.
She had spent months planning and preparing, studying and surveillance.
Now it was time to begin the active phase of her campaign against the happiness that Allen had built while she had suffered in a cell.
One way or another, she would have her revenge.
And it would happen sooner rather than later.