Chapter 42 - Marcus Signs Again
Marcus signed the certificate.
Rachel felt the room disappear around her.
Victor placed the document beneath a scanner. The terminal accepted Marcus’s signature but rejected Rachel’s.
“Bring her forward,” he ordered.
One of Victor’s men moved toward Rachel. The officers raised their weapons, but Dr. Cole held the black cartridge above an open water channel.
“If this falls,” Cole warned, “the ownership evidence disappears with it.”
Celia stepped beside Tessa.
“He is lying. The cartridge is sealed.”
Cole dropped it.
The device struck the water and vanished into the channel.
Victor turned on him.
“What have you done?”
Cole moved toward Evelyn.
“What I should have done eleven years ago.”
Marcus suddenly seized Victor’s arm and pulled him away from the terminal. Police rushed forward.
The confrontation lasted seconds.
Victor escaped through a side door while his men surrendered. Marcus did not follow him.
Rachel stared at the marriage certificate.
“You signed it.”
Marcus pointed toward the scanner.
“My signature activated the transfer screen.”
A new menu had appeared.
The system requested confirmation from Rachel, but it also displayed the identity of the person who had created the document.
VICTOR SAYE.
Marcus had forced Victor’s name into the audit record.
“It proves he personally attempted the transfer,” Tessa said.
“It does not recover the cartridge,” Miriam replied.
Dr. Cole unlocked Evelyn’s chair.
Rachel approached her mother but stopped before touching her.
There were too many years between them.
Evelyn understood.
“I will answer everything,” she said.
A warning appeared on the terminal.
SOURCE KEY REMOVED.
AUTOMATIC BACKUP TRANSFER IN PROGRESS.
DESTINATION: LOT 46.
Rachel’s house.
Celia looked at the countdown.
“The source key was never inside that cartridge.”
“Then what did Cole throw into the water?” Rachel asked.
“A decoy.”
Everyone turned toward Dr. Cole.
But he had disappeared through the same door Victor had used.
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On Evelyn’s empty security band, he had left a message.
THE REAL KEY HAS BEEN INSIDE RACHEL’S HOUSE SINCE HER WEDDING DAY.
