My husband went on a business trip to another city for a month, and I decided to move his favorite cactus in a pot to another place, but accidentally broke it while carrying it. My hair stood on end from what I saw inside…

Mary led us through the back door to the garage, where stood an old Ford Focus. Full tank, she said, handing the keys to Sarah. Documents in the glove compartment. Good luck, and be careful.

The three of us. I, Sarah and David got into the car.

Driving out of the yard, Sarah turned off the headlights and moved only on parking lights until we got out of the city limits. Only on the highway she turned on the low beam, and the car rushed into the night. The first hour of the journey passed in silence.

Everyone was immersed in their thoughts. I looked out the window at the passing trees and thought about how amazingly life can change in a couple of days. Just Saturday morning I was an ordinary woman with ordinary problems and joys.

And now I’m driving at night on an empty highway with my husband’s wife and son, hiding from unknown pursuers and searching for a cache with documents for a new life. If someone told me such a story, I would consider it fiction, the plot of a cheap detective. But this was my reality, my life, unexpectedly turned into a thriller.

How did you meet John? David suddenly asked, breaking the silence. I turned to him. The teenager was sitting in the back seat, hugging his knees.

In the dim light of the dashboard, his face seemed older, more serious. «We met at a modern art exhibition,» I replied after a pause. I was there with a friend, and he.

He said he came for work, that his company sponsors events. We started talking at one of the installations. He was very attentive, interested in my opinion, joked.

At the end of the evening, he asked for my phone number. And a couple of days later he called and invited me on a date. And you didn’t guess that he already had a family.

There was no accusation in David’s voice, only sincere curiosity. No, of course not, I shook my head. He never gave cause for suspicion.

Was attentive, caring. Of course, there were moments that now looking back seem suspicious. Frequent business trips, strange calls.

But then I attributed everything to the peculiarities of his work. And now it turns out that his work. Is espionage, David said quietly. And mom and I didn’t know anything either.

We thought he was an ordinary logistician. He knew how to keep secrets, Sarah noted, not taking her eyes off the road. And build his life on lies.

There was bitterness in her voice, and I understood her. We both were deceived by the person we trusted, whom we loved. And although now we knew the reason for his lies.

A noble reason, as Mary would say. Accepting it was not easy. Do you still love him? Sarah suddenly asked, glancing at me quickly.

I thought. Did I love John? After everything I learned, after everything that happened. I don’t know, I answered honestly.

I’m not even sure I ever knew the real John. The person behind all his masks and roles. But I loved the John I knew.

And I think part of me still loves him. And you? Sarah was silent for a long time, concentrating on the road. I lived with him for 16 years, she finally said.

Gave birth to his son. Shared joys and sorrows with him. And all this time he lied to me.

Not in trifles, but in the most important things. And it’s not even that he had another family. I could forgive infidelity.

But he hid his whole life from me, his work, his goals. All of himself. How can I love a person I don’t know? Silence fell, interrupted only by the noise of the engine and the rustle of tires on the asphalt.

We drove through the night, three people connected by one man and his secrets. Three people whose lives turned upside down because of one broken cactus pot. Around three in the morning we turned off the main highway onto a dirt road.

The navigator in Sarah’s phone showed that there were about 20 kilometers left to the place indicated in the coordinates. The road was getting worse. Asphalt was replaced by dirt, the car began to shake on the bumps.

I began to worry that we might get stuck somewhere in the wilderness, without connection and the possibility of getting help. But Sarah drove confidently, as if she often drove on such roads. Maybe she did.

Maybe she, John and David often went out into nature, unlike me and John, who preferred urban recreation. Finally, the navigator reported that we had arrived at the destination. Sarah stopped the car and turned off the engine.

In the ensuing silence, the sounds of the night forest were especially clear. Rustle of leaves, hooting of an owl, some distant crack. We got out of the car and looked around.

Around was forest. Ordinary deciduous forest, nothing remarkable. No landmarks, no signs indicating a cache.

Only trees, bushes, grass, a forest road going into the distance. And what now? David asked, sweeping the surroundings with a flashlight. How will we find the cache? Good question.

The coordinates led us to this point, but what next? There must be some landmark, some clue. I took out the note and reread it again. Coordinates.

Key in the cavity of the third molar. Documents encrypted. Key.

Date of birth Mpv in order of letters. Access code to the account. First five digits after the decimal point of Pi plus year of acquaintance.

Nothing that could indicate the location of the cache. Unless. Key in the cavity of the third molar right top, I said thoughtfully.

What if it’s not only about John’s tooth? What if it’s a clue? Third molar. Third molar tooth. Right top.

I looked to the right, then up. Nothing special. Trees, sky with twinkling stars.

Perhaps it’s related to some specific tree. Sarah suggested, directing the flashlight beam at the nearest trunks. But how to understand which one? There are hundreds of them here.

We began to examine the trees growing to the right of the road. Nothing unusual. Ordinary oaks, birches, aspens.

No marks, notches, nothing that could indicate a cache. Maybe we’re looking in the wrong place? David said. Maybe the clue means something else.

I reread the note again. Third molar right top. Third.

Right. Top. What if it’s a direction? It suddenly dawned on me.

Third. Third tree? To the right of the road? And top? Maybe the cache is high on the tree? We began to count the trees to the right of the road. First, second, third.

It turned out to be a mighty oak with a spreading crown. We directed the flashlight beams up, exploring the branches. And indeed, at a height of about three meters in the trunk there was a hollow.

Here it is. Sarah exclaimed. This must be the cache.

But how do we get there? The hollow was too high to reach from the ground, and the lower branches of the oak started even higher. I can try to climb, David suggested. I do rock climbing, I should manage.

Sarah looked worried, but after a short thought nodded. Okay, but be careful. And if you feel you can’t climb or descend, say immediately.

We’ll think of something. David took off his jacket to make it easier to climb, and began to climb the oak trunk. His hands and feet confidently found support in the irregularities of the bark.

Sarah and I shone flashlights, helping him see, and watched his progress with anxiety. Finally he reached the hollow. There’s something here.

He shouted from above. Some container. He pulled a small metal cylinder from the hollow, resembling a capsule, and began to descend.

A few minutes later he was standing next to us, extending his find. The container was hermetically sealed with a threaded lid. I tried to open it, but the lid didn’t yield.

It seems it’s glued with something, I noted, examining the junction of the lid and the body. Or soldered. So we need to open it, Sarah decided…