Chapter 12 - The Price of a Confession
The maintenance vehicle raced beneath the city.
David drove with both hands locked around the wheel. Daniel sat beside him, pressing cloth against his wounded shoulder. Samuel monitored Ethan in the back.
Valerie watched David through the mirror.
“How did you know where to find us?”
“The police officer received Theresa’s location updates.”
“And you trusted them?”
“I escaped before he could deliver me to Elias.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You expect us to believe you overpowered an armed officer while handcuffed?”
David lifted his left wrist.
A broken metal cuff remained around it.
“The explosion weakened the hinge.”
“Convenient.”
“You can leave me behind when we reach the river.”
“We may leave you behind sooner,” Daniel said.
Valerie touched Daniel’s arm.
“Not yet.”
He looked at her.
“David knows Theresa’s plans.”
David nodded.
“I know part of them.”
“Start talking,” Valerie said.
He took a breath.
“Elias believed Charles split the archive into three sections. Financial records, operational records, and identity records.”
Daniel’s expression sharpened.
“I knew about two.”
“The third section contains the names of Crown Circle’s original founders.”
“Theresa is one.”
“She is not the highest-ranking founder.”
“Who is?”
“I don’t know. She always called that person the Chairman.”
Samuel looked up from Ethan’s monitor.
“Male or female?”
“I never heard a voice. Messages arrived through Martin Hale’s office.”
Valerie remembered Martin’s forged signature.
“Someone used Martin’s firm as a communication channel.”
“Yes.”
“Did Martin know?”
“Maybe not at first.”
The tunnel divided.
David turned left.
Daniel looked at the faded wall markings.
“The river is right.”
“The right tunnel collapsed.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Daniel checked the map.
“It isn’t marked.”
“Crown Circle uses this network. Public records are incomplete.”
Valerie looked out the window.
The walls became smoother.
New security lights appeared ahead.
“You’re taking us somewhere they control.”
“No. I’m taking you to the only place with equipment that can remove Ethan’s biometric data from their system.”
“Saint Aurelia?”
“An underground data station beneath the old customs building.”
Daniel raised his gun.
“Stop the vehicle.”
“If I stop, Ethan remains registered in E-V9.”
“Stop.”
David hit the brakes.
The vehicle slid along the track.
Daniel pressed the weapon against David’s side.
“Why should we believe anything you say?”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Then give me a reason.”
David looked at Valerie in the mirror.
“Because I know I cannot repair what I did. I know I will never be her husband again. I know Ethan may grow up hating my name.”
Valerie’s face remained still.
David continued.
“But there is one thing I can do. I can make sure Theresa never uses him.”
“By driving us into another trap?” Daniel asked.
“By giving you the access codes to the data station.”
“Give them now.”
“They change every sixty seconds. My retinal scan is also required.”
Daniel’s weapon remained steady.
Samuel interrupted.
“Ethan’s oxygen saturation is falling again. We need proper neonatal equipment within twenty minutes.”
David looked toward the tunnel ahead.
“The station has a medical laboratory.”
“Why?” Valerie asked.
“E-V9 was tested there.”
Samuel’s face hardened.
“On children?”
David did not answer.
Valerie’s voice became cold.
“On children?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel struck the dashboard.
“You built this system?”
“My company installed the servers. I believed they were medical research databases.”
“You never asked questions?”
“I stopped asking questions a long time ago.”
“That is the story of your life,” Daniel said.
Valerie looked at Ethan.
His tiny chest moved unevenly.
“Drive.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Valerie.”
“My son needs equipment.”
“And if it’s a trap?”
“Then we survive it.”
David accelerated.
The tunnel ended beneath a steel door.
A scanner lowered.
David placed his eye against it.
ACCESS GRANTED.
The door opened to reveal a modern facility hidden beneath the city.
Rows of servers filled the central chamber. Glass laboratories lined both sides. Medical beds stood inside them.
Several beds were small.
Child-sized.
Valerie stared through the windows.
Some still held restraints.
Samuel whispered, “My God.”
David parked near a medical bay.
Samuel carried Ethan inside and connected him to a neonatal ventilator.
His oxygen levels began improving.
Valerie stayed beside him until Samuel nodded.
“He’s responding.”
Only then did she turn toward the rest of the facility.
Daniel accessed the main terminal.
“David, enter your credentials.”
David obeyed.
Files appeared.
E-V9 PARTICIPANT INDEX.
There were seventy-three entries.
Most were marked deceased.
Valerie’s stomach turned.
The final entry read:
SUBJECT 74: ETHAN CHARLES MERCER.
STATUS: ACQUIRED.
“They listed him before he was born,” Valerie said.
David stared at the screen.
“My mother had access to the hospital records.”
Daniel opened Ethan’s profile.
Genetic maps, ultrasound images, and delivery schedules appeared.
At the bottom was an authorization code.
SIGNED BY: D. MERCER.
Valerie turned toward David.
He went pale.
“I didn’t sign that.”
“Your digital credential did.”
“My mother had access.”
“You blamed her for everything.”
“I didn’t authorize this.”
“How can I believe you?”
“You can’t.”
He moved away from the keyboard.
Daniel examined the signature metadata.
“This was approved four months ago from David’s office.”
Valerie remembered that month.
David had insisted she attend a private prenatal clinic recommended by his company.
The clinic had collected extra blood samples.
She had asked why.
David said it was routine.
“You took me to them,” she said.
“I didn’t know.”
“You never know.”
Her voice cracked.
“You never know because knowing would require you to care.”
David lowered his head.
An alarm sounded.
The main doors began closing.
A message appeared across every screen.
WELCOME HOME, DANIEL.
Theresa’s voice filled the facility.
“You brought every key to one room.”
Armed locks engaged.
Daniel tried the terminal.
“Remote control.”
Theresa appeared on the central monitor.
Elias stood behind her.
“Thank you, David,” she said. “For proving you are useful after all.”
David stared at the screen.
“You knew I would come here.”
“I knew guilt would make you predictable.”
Elias placed a hand on Theresa’s shoulder.
“The Chairman is ready.”
Valerie moved closer to Ethan’s bed.
Theresa smiled.
“To complete E-V9, we need the child, the archive guardians, and one final confession.”
“What confession?” Daniel asked.
Theresa looked at David.
May you like
“The truth about who killed Charles Vaughn.”
David slowly turned toward Valerie.
