A muted silence surrounded them as Avidan and Sage worked through the information she had uncovered. Sage smiled each time Avidan muttered a Hebrew phrase that didn't sound very complimentary. He was taking notes ... a lot of notes. Probably more than she had taken while working, but after hours of sifting through the information and asking questions, he finally looked up, staring at her until she raised her gaze to his.

"Yes," Sage said quietly, waiting as he gathered his words.

"Something is missing here," he said, a pucker forming between his eyes. "I can't put my finger on it, but there is a gap of something ..." he sighed, "... your research is solid, you have enough information to return the estate and these lands to the original owner," he nodded, "you have the connection between the Channings and the Second World War but … something is missing."

"I agree," Sage said, "I'm currently digging into a section of my questions that may be the connection."

"I'm all ears," Avidan said, "tell me everything."

Nodding, Sage pulled her notes from under her coffee mug in the middle of the table, "We have a timeline of history until the Second World War, and we can pick it up afterwards."

"Correct," Avidan murmured, putting an index finger on both points mentioned, "but the centre bit is what we need to fill in. Why is it missing?"

"It could be because someone is hiding something or doesn't want something to be discovered until it's too late. It has been bothering me how a Cooper-Channing version of our family appeared," Sage said, "if you look at the information before the war, it is two separate families," she pointed to her family tree displayed not far from where they were working, "after the war, there are the two families and the Cooper-Channing version and the entire section in between is like a massive black hole."

Avidan looked between the timeline and the family tree, "The years are the same," he murmured, glancing at Sage as her brows puckered, "look here, this information ends here, as does the family tree information," he pointed to the other end of the gap, "and this side here has the same dates as the family tree as well."

"You're right," Sage said, her mind jumping around, making it difficult to think clearly. She closed her eyes, inhaled and exhaled deeply, repeating it until her mind cleared and the thought that was trying to be heard stared at her with glaring obviousness. "of course." Rifling through the papers to the one side of her laptop, she found the document she sought. She scanned the page until she found the required information, "Look at the date on this document."

Avidan gazed at the date she pointed at and looked at the two timelines again, "The information stops just after that document was drawn up," he murmured, "what is that document?"

"Robert Channing did not fully lift the curfew after the war," Sage said, "he amended it and added conditions that at the time were … crazy and impossible to accomplish."

"The key words being ... at the time ... hey ... what is this at the bottom of the document?" Avidan asked, pointing to a line of words.

"That is a reference to the first addendum," Sage said, pulling the document from the pile and handing it to Avidan, "every few years, there is another addendum …" Sage paused as she noticed Avidan frowning at the sheet of paper, "… what is it?"

"I think this may be the first clue … or link … or …" he sighed, flustered as he tried to find the right word.

"Those choices are good enough," Sage said, gently laying her hand on his arm, "what did you find?"

"This line of Latin," Avidan said, pointing at the sheet of paper; when Sage shook her head, he frowned, "You don't know Latin?"

"I know German, French, Italian and English, of course," Sage said smiling, "but Latin never came up or seemed necessary."

"Until now," Avdian said, smiling.

"Until now," Sage said, conceding the point made by the lift of his eyebrows, "do you understand it?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

He nodded, "This phrase … post octo decennia terras fit Channing's .... means – after eight decades, the land becomes the Channings."

"Eight decades?" Sage whispered, looking at the years between the lack of information and now, "That explains the urgency."

"What urgency?" Avidan asked.

"From the time of the addendum until the date on the legal document sent to Rosemary's lawyers, it will be exactly eight decades," Sage said, "I was sent here with a time limit to do an article on the legend of the house."

"The house has a legend?" Avidan asked.

"Apparently so," Sage said, "instead of discovering the legend, I discovered all of this."

"That would never have happened if it were not for your name," Avidan said, "it's the double barrel surname that gets you in."

"Into what?" Sage asked.

"Highly classified places," Avidan said, "with all this information available at your fingertips, someone has to be alerted to the searches. Someone with clearance to let you into the archives to get all of this."

"You're saying someone knows I'm digging all of this up," Sage whispered, the horrified sensation that she may be tracked and watched rippled through her, "who do you think it is?"

Avidan shrugged, "It can't be the Channings," he sighed, "if it were them, they would block you or try and kill you."

"True," Sage said, sighing as more questions pummelled her mind, "then who? "

"Whoever it is will make themselves known when the time is right or stay hidden if that is what they want to do," Avidan said, "right now, we need to look into who put Coopers Cove into a dark hole for all these years."

"Yeah, and why?" Sage said, nodding.

The chilly room filled with the buzzing of electronics ran across her senses as she stared at the screen; the passwords Rosemary supplied worked well, allowing her to track what was being looked for and printed.

"How is our girl doing?" a male voice asked in hushed tones beside her ear.

"She is digging in places I never thought she would," the woman whispered, "Rosemary underestimated this one."

"Really? That has never happened," the man said, "she is usually correct to a point."

"True, but she has been working for the company for a year or two longer, and without Rosemary being around to monitor her," the woman said, "other influences and experiences came in Sage's way, and she grew in a way Rose was not aware of."

"Apparently, someone is helping her," the man whispered, "do you know who?"

The woman nodded, "Our Israeli friends informed me one of the experts has been recalled to Coopers Cove and will be there until this is resolved."

"Why is he …" the man's words trailed off, "… do you think she is going to try and have the wrong rectified?"

"It's looking that way," the woman whispered, "Matthew tells me she is determined to put all to right even if it includes having to end the rule of terror."

"Sounds dramatic," the man chuckled, "does she know what she's getting herself into?"

"The kind of information she has pulled and printed," the woman sighed, "it'll be hard for her not to know."

"We'll need to keep a close eye on her," the man said, straightening.

"What about Jeffery?" the woman asked.

"What about him? He's supposed to be back at his office," the man said, pausing as he turned to leave, looking at her over his shoulder; the expression on her face had him turning toward her, "is he not at his office?"

"Apparently, he has not been back for some time," the woman said, "Matthew informed me that he arrived shortly after Sage and hasn't left."

"He is violating his rights. Has he made contact with Sage?" the man asked, foreboding rippling through him.

"Yes, apparently, he tried to scare her, but she didn't respond how he wanted and kicked him out. Security has been heightened ... physically and electronically since then," the woman sighed, "this may get messy before it ends."

"Who is he really working for?" the man asked, pacing away before returning to her desk and leaning on it, "do you think it's time to bring our Israeli friends into the mix?"

"I think they have already been brought into the mix," the woman whispered, "but I don't think it would be bad to have extra eyes on this one."

Nodding, the man sighed, "It's not the best thing, but it's necessary … do it."

"I'm on it," the woman smiled, "I'll keep you in the loop."

"Thanks," the man said, straightening and leaving the room.

"Sage, I hope you know what you're doing," the woman sighed, looking back at the screen and seeing a request to enter another classified website, "approval given. Where are you going now?"