Chapter 7 - ORPHEUS RETURNS ALONE
The theater had been closed for twenty-two years, but its stage lights still worked from an independent generator. Beneath the dusty balconies, Ward projected security footage onto a torn screen.
Claire appeared in a hospital gown, barefoot and unsteady, moving through a concrete corridor. The timestamp showed 2:31 a.m. on the night of the crash.
"This was my contingency site," Ward said. "A private medical suite beneath the theater. Claire arrived sedated but conscious."
The footage changed. Evelyn entered the corridor carrying a medical case.
Noah looked at her. "You drugged her."
"I administered an antidote to what Rusk's people had used," Evelyn said. "The dose should have stabilized her. Instead she woke disoriented and believed I was part of the abduction."
On the screen, Claire struck Evelyn with a metal tray, stole her access card, and fled through an emergency exit.
"Why didn't you tell Victor?" Noah asked.
"Because I did not know whether Victor had staged the crash or merely failed to prevent it. Claire had discovered payments connecting his company to Saint Mercy Transport."
"He says Rusk controls him."
"Victor says whatever the room requires."
Ward advanced the footage. Outside the theater, Claire staggered into an alley and stopped beside a dark ambulance. A paramedic stepped out, apparently offering help.
The image froze on his face.
Captain Rusk.
"He recaptured her," Noah said.
"Yes," Ward replied. "We lost the ambulance in the tunnel network. By the time we traced it to Warehouse 6, they had already moved her."
Noah checked Victor's watch. The red point had stopped at Saint Orison Chapel.
"We know where she is now."
Ward shook his head. "We know where the transmitter is."
He explained that the lower rail could be removed. If Rusk had discovered it, the tracker might be traveling with an empty coffin.
Noah remembered the private viewing. Claire's breath. The puncture mark. The concealed ventilation gap.
"It was her at eight."
"Then we have four hours before the public service," Evelyn said.
"We go in now."
Ward opened a blueprint of the chapel. "Rusk has officers at every public entrance. The funeral director is compromised. The basement connects to catacombs beneath the family mausoleums, but the passage was sealed after a collapse."
Noah pointed to the sacristy. "My school choir performed there. There is a dumbwaiter behind the vestment cabinet. It goes to the kitchen level."
Ward studied the plan. "Too narrow for an adult."
"Not for me."
Evelyn objected immediately. Noah ignored her.
They developed a plan. Ward would trigger a false gas alarm in the east wing, drawing officers away. Evelyn would enter through the main doors as executor of Claire's estate and demand access to inspect the funeral arrangements. Noah would use the kitchen delivery bay, climb the dumbwaiter, and reach the sacristy.
"Once you are inside, do not approach the coffin unless the chapel is clear," Ward said. "Confirm Claire is there. Send the signal. We extract together."
"And if they move her?"
"You follow at a distance."
"And if they try to bury her?"
Ward hesitated.
Noah saw the answer in his face.
"Keep the coffin above ground," he said, repeating Victor's warning.
At 9:05 a.m., a delivery truck entered Saint Orison's service court. Noah lay beneath linen carts in the rear compartment. When the driver began unloading flowers, he slipped into the kitchen and found the old dumbwaiter behind stacked crates.
The shaft smelled of grease and dust. Noah pulled himself upward using the service rope, scraping both knees against the brick. Voices echoed through the wall as he passed the lower hall.
"The woman woke twice," someone said.
Captain Rusk answered, "Increase the sedative. No marks on the face."
Noah stopped climbing.
A second voice spoke. Samuel Pike, the funeral director.
"The dose is already dangerous."
"Her heartbeat only needs to last through the burial."
Footsteps receded.
Noah continued upward and pushed open the sacristy hatch. He crawled into darkness, then eased the cabinet door open.
The chapel lay beyond a narrow corridor.
The white coffin stood under the chandelier.
No guards were visible.
Noah approached and pressed his ear to the lid.
Nothing.
He tapped once.
Are you awake?
For five seconds there was silence.
Then, from inside the coffin, came two faint taps.
I'm here.
Noah reached for the nearest clasp.
May you like
A gun pressed against the back of his neck.
"Your mother knew you would come," Captain Rusk said. "That is why she finally agreed to talk."
