Chapter 11 - the empty warehouse
The warehouse near the river had been cleared less than an hour before police arrived.
Truck tracks cut through the mud behind the loading bays. Security cameras had been removed, not merely disabled. The office computers were gone. Filing cabinets stood open and empty.
Only the injured security contractor remained.
His name was Patrick Wynn.
He had worked on the Grant house three years earlier, installing reinforced doors, camera backups, and the workshop emergency system. Elias had trusted him because Wynn had previously held a government security clearance.
Now Wynn sat in the rear of an ambulance with an oxygen mask near his face.
He was awake but disoriented.
Elias remained outside until the paramedic allowed him closer.
“Who brought you here?” Elias asked.
Wynn looked at him.
“Claire.”
“Was she alone?”
“No.”
“Who was with her?”
Wynn closed his eyes.
“A man wearing Rusk’s coat.”
Elias exchanged a glance with Mercer.
“Was it Owen Rusk?”
“I never saw his face clearly.”
“What happened?”
“Claire called me yesterday. She said someone had discovered the tunnel at your house. She wanted another escape route.”
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“She said Lily was in danger if anyone knew.”
“Where did you meet?”
“At the warehouse.”
“And then?”
“A woman arrived.”
“What woman?”
Wynn’s breathing changed.
“Military uniform. Dark hair.”
“Major Sloan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you see her face?”
“Only briefly.”
“What did she do?”
“She asked Claire for the letter.”
Elias stepped closer.
“Did Claire give it to her?”
“No. Claire said she would exchange it for Lily’s safety.”
“Then what happened?”
“Another vehicle arrived. Someone struck me from behind.”
The paramedic warned Elias not to push him further.
Mercer asked one final question.
“Where is Claire now?”
Wynn’s eyes opened.
“The old observatory.”
“What observatory?”
“Crown Hill. North of the city.”
Elias knew the place.
An abandoned communications station sat on Crown Hill. The military had used it decades earlier before transferring the property to a private research trust.
Raven Six had trained there.
Elias looked at Mercer.
“That location is connected to my former unit.”
Mercer moved away to coordinate officers.
A black SUV entered the warehouse lot.
Major Sloan stepped out with two military investigators.
Mercer blocked her path.
“This is a state police scene.”
“And that man possesses information involving stolen military equipment.”
“You are temporarily excluded from the investigation.”
“By whose authority?”
“Mine, until internal affairs determines whether you communicated with the suspects.”
Sloan looked beyond him at Elias.
“Ruth lied to you.”
“About which part?”
“Most of it.”
“She had Claire’s email.”
“She had an edited screenshot.”
“You met Rusk.”
“I met a source using that identity.”
“You approved the investigation timeline.”
“To prevent the network from disappearing.”
“My family nearly disappeared instead.”
Sloan lowered her voice.
“Colonel, someone wants you to distrust the only people trying to help.”
“That sentence could apply to everyone here.”
A technician approached Mercer holding a recovered memory card.
“We found this taped beneath the office desk.”
The card contained one video file.
Mercer opened it on a portable screen.
The footage showed Claire entering the warehouse with Patrick Wynn. She carried a white envelope and Lily’s wooden compass.
Seven minutes later, a woman in military uniform entered.
The camera angle showed only her back.
Her height and build resembled Major Sloan.
The woman removed her cap and placed it on the desk.
Claire said, “Lily stays out of this.”
The woman replied, “That stopped being possible when she activated the camera.”
The voice was distorted by static.
Claire held up the envelope.
“I want proof Elias is safe.”
“You are in no position to negotiate.”
“Neither are you. The letter names the officer who created Rusk.”
The uniformed woman stepped toward her.
Before her face turned toward the camera, the recording ended.
“Can you restore the remaining footage?” Elias asked.
The technician shook his head.
“The rest of the card was overwritten.”
Sloan watched the frozen image.
“That is not me.”
“The uniform belongs to your division,” Mercer said.
“It could have been stolen.”
“Convenient.”
Sloan ignored him and looked at the wooden compass in Claire’s hand.
“What was inside it?”
“A flash drive,” Elias answered.
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
“Then Claire may still have the evidence.”
Mercer’s radio reported that teams were moving toward Crown Hill Observatory.
Elias headed for his vehicle.
Sloan followed.
“You cannot go there.”
“Claire is my wife.”
“She is also a suspect.”
“She is Lily’s mother.”
“That did not stop her from assisting them.”
Elias turned.
“No. But she tried to get the evidence out.”
“Or she stole it for herself.”
A new call came through Mercer’s radio.
The first team had reached Crown Hill.
The observatory gates were open.
A vehicle was burning in the central yard, but no one was inside it.
Officers had discovered fresh footprints leading toward the underground communications chamber.
May you like
And from somewhere beneath the hill, an emergency transmitter was broadcasting the same message every thirty seconds.
“Colonel Elias Grant must come alone.”
