Chapter 9 - The Officer Who Arrived Too Quickly
Reyes placed his weapon on the desk.
“Twelve years ago, I investigated a fire at a research laboratory owned by Sterling Meridian.”
“The fire Marcus mentioned at the lodge,” Elena said.
“Yes.”
“Were you working for him?”
“No. I was trying to arrest him.”
Benjamin held up the photograph.
“This does not look like an arrest.”
Reyes stared at the image.
“Marcus contacted me the morning of the school meeting. He said Chloe was in danger and asked me to watch the building.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Because he claimed Victoria was planning to take Chloe out of the country.”
Elena’s anger rose.
“You spoke to the man who stole my daughter and kept it secret.”
“I was trying to find the child.”
“You already knew where she was.”
“I knew where she attended school. I didn’t know what was happening inside the house.”
Chloe stood near the fireplace, listening.
Elena lowered her voice.
“Who ordered the laboratory fire?”
Reyes was silent for several seconds.
“My captain.”
“What was his name?”
“Thomas Vale.”
Elena felt cold.
“That was my father’s name.”
Reyes nodded.
“Your father was not only a technology investor. He worked with federal intelligence. The laboratory contained Meridian identity records. He ordered the evidence destroyed after discovering that the Circle had infiltrated our department.”
“My father died fourteen years ago.”
“The fire happened twelve years ago.”
Elena stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“The man who gave the order used your father’s credentials, voice authorization, and biometric signature.”
“A copy?”
“Or your father did not die when you were told he did.”
Chloe spoke from behind Elena.
“Grandpa is alive.”
Everyone turned.
Elena crouched beside her.
“Why would you say that?”
“I saw him.”
“Where?”
“In the room with the white walls.”
The hospital.
“When?”
“Last year. Dad called him Mr. Vale.”
“What did he look like?”
Chloe pointed toward the frozen screen.
“Like him, but older.”
Elena remembered her father’s funeral.
The closed casket.
Marcus had attended even though they had only been dating for six months. He comforted her. Helped manage the estate. Encouraged her not to view the body because of the accident.
Had their entire marriage begun as an operation to reach her father’s vault?
An alarm sounded inside the hidden room.
The screen reactivated.
A digital timer appeared.
11:59:58.
The numbers began counting down.
Benjamin searched the control panel.
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
Elena’s father appeared again.
This recording was different.
“If stage one has activated, the Circle knows the vault is accessible. You have twelve hours before the registry begins deleting itself.”
“How do we stop it?” Elena asked the recording.
Her father continued as though he had heard her.
“You must reach the second memory gate beneath Halcyon House.”
Elena looked at Reyes.
“Marcus’s estate.”
“Police searched it,” he said. “The basement was empty.”
“Because they did not know what door to ask for.”
The recording changed to a map.
Halcyon House stood at the center. Beneath it were tunnels connecting the estate to an old church, a water-treatment facility, and a road beyond the county line.
Benjamin photographed the screen.
A warning appeared.
ONE AUTHORIZED KEY HAS ALREADY ENTERED GATE TWO.
Elena touched the display.
“Who?”
The screen showed a grainy live image.
Marcus stood inside an underground chamber.
Beside him was Victoria.
Between them, strapped to a chair, was a white-haired man.
Elena recognized her father.
He lifted his head and looked directly into the camera.
“Do not come for me,” he said.
Marcus leaned into the frame.
May you like
“But you will, Elena.”
The timer continued counting down.
