Chapter 9 - The Safe House
The safe house was located beneath an abandoned rehabilitation clinic twenty miles outside the city.
Nathan said the property belonged to Bennett Medical Logistics.
Jonah said Northstar had designed it.
Claire trusted neither statement.
She sat in a secured bedroom with Lily while Nathan and Jonah argued in the corridor.
“We should move her before sunrise,” Jonah said.
“The roads are being monitored.”
“By people your company hired.”
“Northstar Strategic passed every federal review.”
“Because they wrote the reviews.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Lily slept against her shoulder.
The child had been alive for less than one day, yet her world already contained armed men, hidden identities, and a family history built on disappearance.
Claire looked at the baby’s face.
“You will not inherit this,” she whispered.
Her phone had no signal.
Nathan had removed the battery and placed the device inside a shielded container after the hospital attack.
A secure landline sat beside the bed.
It rang once.
Claire stared at it.
Nathan opened the door.
“Do not answer.”
The phone rang again.
Jonah appeared behind him.
“Only three people have this number.”
“Who?” Claire asked.
“Nathan, me, and the Northstar operations desk.”
The phone rang a third time.
Claire answered.
No one spoke.
She heard faint breathing.
Then Daniel’s voice.
“Claire?”
Nathan reached for the receiver.
Claire stepped away.
“How did you get this number?”
“I found something.”
“Where are you?”
“At the house.”
“Which house?”
“The old Bennett house. The one with the blue room.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
“You do not know about that room.”
“Someone was here before me.”
Nathan whispered, “End the call.”
Daniel continued.
“The floor is open. There’s blood beneath it.”
Claire looked at Jonah.
His expression revealed nothing.
Daniel sent an image.
The secure phone’s screen displayed the blue room.
A piece of bloodstained cloth lay beneath the removed boards.
Claire recognized the embroidered initials.
C.B.
Her mother had sewn them onto Claire’s childhood clothes.
The cloth came from a blue winter coat Claire wore when she was five.
She had lost it during a family trip.
At least, that was what William had told her.
“Claire,” Daniel said, “there’s another drive.”
Nathan took the phone.
“This is Nathan Hale. Leave the property immediately.”
Daniel laughed.
“I thought you would be interested.”
“What do you want?”
“My access restored.”
“No.”
“My mother’s house protected.”
“No.”
“Then Claire never sees the drive.”
Jonah moved closer to the phone.
“Daniel, listen carefully. The people with you will kill you the moment you stop being useful.”
Daniel went silent.
“How do you know someone is with me?”
“Because you are not intelligent enough to find the blue room alone.”
Claire almost smiled despite herself.
Then a loud crack came through the receiver.
Daniel shouted.
The call ended.
At the same moment, every light in the safe house turned red.
A mechanical voice announced:
SECURITY BREACH.
Nathan opened the bedroom cabinet and removed a protective carrier for Lily.
Jonah checked the camera feed.
Six figures moved through the clinic above them.
They wore medical uniforms.
No visible weapons.
“Northstar?” Claire asked.
Jonah shook his head.
“Adrian’s private team.”
“Who is Adrian?”
Nathan and Jonah exchanged a look.
Claire’s patience ended.
“Who is Adrian Cross?”
Nathan answered.
“Your father’s former son-in-law.”
Claire stared.
“William did not have another daughter.”
“No,” Nathan said. “But Jonah did.”
Jonah’s face hardened.
“My daughter, Elise.”
Claire looked between them.
“My sister?”
“Half-sister.”
“What happened to her?”
Jonah checked the ammunition in his weapon.
“She married Adrian despite my warning. Then she disappeared.”
“Dead?”
“I don’t know.”
The security door at the far end of the corridor shook under an impact.
Nathan handed Claire a key.
“There is an escape tunnel behind the bathroom wall.”
“Where does it lead?”
“To a drainage field east of the property.”
“Come with us.”
“We will slow them down.”
Claire looked at Jonah.
“You just told me you were my father.”
“And I have spent twenty-eight years failing to protect you.”
Another impact hit the door.
The metal frame bent.
Claire secured Lily inside the carrier.
Nathan pressed a small drive into her hand.
“What is this?”
“A location.”
“For what?”
“Eleanor.”
Claire stared at him.
“Your sister?”
“She knows where Margaret has been held.”
The door buckled again.
Jonah pulled open the bathroom panel.
A narrow concrete tunnel disappeared into darkness.
Claire climbed inside.
Nathan gripped her arm.
“Do not trust Jonah with the drive.”
Jonah heard him.
“Do not trust Nathan with your child.”
Claire looked at both men.
“You had years to tell me the truth.”
May you like
Then she entered the tunnel alone.
Behind her, gunfire erupted.
