Chapter 11 - The Choice in the Corridor
Nadia looked pale, but she was standing on her own.
Caleb kept one hand around her arm and the other on the gun.
“Drop your weapons,” he said.
Mara lowered hers slowly.
Trent and Reyes followed.
“Let her go,” Mara said.
“You should have stayed at Fort Bellamy.”
“You should have left my daughter alone.”
Caleb gave a tired smile.
“She inserted herself into something she did not understand.”
“She understood enough to frighten you.”
“She stole protected files.”
“She preserved evidence.”
Caleb pushed Nadia forward.
“Tell her, Nadia.”
Nadia’s eyes remained on Mara.
“He wants the second key.”
“Do you have it?”
“No.”
Caleb pressed the gun closer.
“She is lying.”
Mara looked carefully at Nadia’s face.
There was fear, but also concentration.
Nadia was trying to communicate something.
Mara glanced toward the corridor lights.
Three were working.
Two were dark.
Three were working.
The same signal Nadia had tapped beside the van.
Three, two, three.
I am awake.
Then Nadia moved her eyes toward the ceiling.
A camera.
Mara understood.
Everything was being watched.
“Caleb,” she said, “even if Nadia gives you the key, you still need Rowe’s portion.”
“We already have it.”
“Vivienne took it before he escaped.”
“Vivienne was supposed to take it.”
Mara heard the distinction.
“Rowe gave it to her.”
Caleb did not answer.
Nadia spoke.
“General Rowe built the recovery system.”
“He built more than that,” Caleb said.
Mara kept her tone calm.
“Where is he?”
“Close enough to watch you decide.”
“Decide what?”
Caleb nodded toward a document resting on a cart.
“You will sign a statement admitting that you transferred defense data to Nadia. She will confirm that she created the accusations to protect you.”
“And then?”
“You both leave.”
Nadia almost laughed.
“No one leaves.”
Caleb’s jaw tightened.
Mara looked at the document.
A confession would allow the organization to blame the entire theft on her division.
It would also destroy the validity of Nadia’s evidence.
“Why do you need signatures if you control everyone?” Mara asked.
“Because we do not control the public.”
“So that is what you fear.”
Caleb’s expression changed.
“Sign it.”
Mara stepped toward the cart.
Nadia shook her head once.
Mara picked up the pen.
“Read it aloud,” Nadia said.
Caleb pulled her closer.
“Be quiet.”
“No,” Mara said. “She is right. I want to understand my confession.”
Caleb motioned toward the document.
Mara began reading.
“I, Colonel Mara Harrison, acknowledge that I knowingly provided restricted financial records to my daughter, Nadia Harrison…”
As she continued, Lieutenant Reyes slowly moved her left hand toward the emergency control panel behind her.
The ceiling camera followed Mara.
It did not follow Reyes.
Mara read more slowly.
“…for the purpose of concealing unauthorized transfers from the emergency infrastructure fund…”
Reyes reached the panel.
Caleb noticed.
“Stop.”
Reyes struck the emergency release.
Every secure door in the corridor opened at once.
Alarms sounded.
Nadia drove her heel down on Caleb’s foot and pulled away.
Mara crossed the distance between them before he could raise the gun.
She struck his wrist against the metal cart.
The weapon fell.
Trent kicked it down the corridor.
Caleb grabbed Mara’s jacket, but Nadia seized the confession document and shoved the cart into him.
Reyes restrained him with plastic cuffs.
Mara turned to Nadia.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“I will be when we get out.”
Footsteps thundered through the open doors.
Agent Price’s tactical team entered from the north corridor.
“We regained communications,” he said. “The facility is secure above ground.”
“Vivienne?” Mara asked.
“Not found.”
“Rowe?”
“Not found.”
Nadia pointed toward the west stairwell.
“They went below.”
Price looked at the surveillance monitors mounted near the ceiling.
“Why take you here?”
“Because the original ledger is still inside the building.”
Rowe’s voice returned through the speakers.
“You have ten minutes, Mara.”
A timer appeared on every monitor.
09:59.
09:58.
09:57.
Then Vivienne appeared on the screens beside him.
She held a small metal device.
Nadia recognized it immediately.
“That controls the fire suppression system.”
Price looked toward the ceiling pipes.
“This building has no active fire system.”
“It does underground,” Nadia said. “But it isn’t filled with water.”
Mara stared at the timer.
“What is in it?”
May you like
Nadia’s face went pale.
“A chemical agent designed to destroy electronic storage.”
