Chapter 15 - The Second Dinosaur
Daniel did not travel to Saint Orison immediately.
He wanted to.
Every part of him wanted to put Luke in the car, drive toward the mountains and follow the final symbol until Rebecca appeared.
But Black Pine had taught him the danger of rushing toward a path created by someone else.
Detective Cole arranged surveillance around the retreat. Public records described Saint Orison as a private residential school and family recovery center.
The gates were guarded.
The property included a chapel, dormitories and several buildings constructed against the side of a mountain.
Satellite images showed no railway.
Old geological surveys showed tunnels.
Cole requested federal assistance.
“The organization knows the Black Pine network has been exposed,” she told Daniel. “They may be destroying evidence or moving people.”
“Rebecca warned us not to come until Black Pine fell.”
“She may have expected that.”
“Or she needs us to move before they disappear.”
Cole did not disagree.
Three nights later, Daniel woke to a soft electronic sound.
The tracker application was sending an alert.
He reached for his phone.
Rex Footprint One rested beside Luke and had not moved.
A second device had appeared on the account.
Daniel had never registered it.
The screen displayed a new name:
REX FOOTPRINT TWO.
The signal came from the front yard.
Daniel checked the security camera.
A small cardboard box sat on the porch.
No person or vehicle appeared in the recording. At 2:13 in the morning, the box simply appeared between two frames.
Daniel called Cole before opening the door.
Officers arrived and examined the package.
Inside was a stuffed dinosaur identical to Luke’s, except its fabric was blue.
A rubber footprint was clipped beneath its tail.
The tracker inside was transmitting live.
Luke came downstairs holding Rex.
“Mommy’s dinosaur,” he whispered.
Daniel looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“I saw it in the tunnel.”
Cole carefully opened the seam in the blue dinosaur.
Inside was a small voice recorder.
Daniel pressed play.
Static filled the kitchen.
Then Rebecca spoke.
“Daniel, Black Pine was never meant to hide me. It was meant to lead you to Saint Orison.”
Daniel gripped the recorder.
Her voice sounded strained and urgent.
“If you found the second dinosaur, Vale has been arrested and my mother can no longer control the files. That means the person above them will begin moving the children.”
Cole leaned closer.
Rebecca continued.
“Do not trust the official list of residents. The names are replacements. Do not enter through the front gate. Follow the railway survey from 1989.”
There was a pause.
Then Rebecca said the words Daniel had waited four years to hear.
“I am alive.”
Luke covered his mouth.
Daniel closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
“But I may not be the person who delivered this message.”
A noise sounded behind Rebecca.
She whispered quickly.
“Someone inside Black Pine knew about the dinosaur tracker before Luke arrived. Someone close to the investigation has been reporting every move you make.”
Cole became still.
Daniel looked at her.
The recording crackled.
Rebecca’s final words were almost impossible to hear.
“Daniel, the betrayal begins with the photograph.”
The device shut off.
At that moment, every light in the house went dark.
Cole reached for her radio.
No signal.
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
Rex Footprint Two had moved.
The blue dinosaur still sat on the kitchen table, but the tracker application showed the second red dot traveling north.
Fast.
Toward the mountains.
Then a third tracker appeared.
No name.
No registration information.
It was already inside Saint Orison.
A live microphone connected automatically.
Daniel heard the distant rumble of an underground train.
A child whispered, “Is Luke’s dad listening?”
Another voice answered from the darkness.
A woman’s voice.
Rebecca’s voice.
“Yes.”
A metal door opened.
Someone shouted in the background.
Rebecca spoke directly into the hidden microphone.
“Daniel, whatever happens next, do not let them bring Luke to me.”
The signal vanished.
Upstairs, Luke screamed.
Daniel ran to his bedroom.
The window was open.
The curtains moved in the cold night air.
Rex lay on the floor.
Luke was still in bed, staring toward the garden in terror.
A woman wearing a blue coat stood beyond the glass.
She raised one hand.
The silver bracelet shone around her wrist.
Then she pointed toward the dark road behind the house, where a pair of headlights appeared between the trees.
Luke grabbed Daniel’s arm.
“Dad,” he whispered, “that isn’t the blue lady who helped me.”
May you like
Outside, the woman smiled.
And Rex Footprint One began moving beneath the house.
