Chapter 24 - Arden Tower
Thomas did not enter through the lobby.
He used an old service elevator.
That told Marcus everything.
“He knows the building too well.”
Daniel replied, “He helped design the original security plan.”
Marcus glanced at him.
“Of course he did.”
Thomas stopped on the thirty-first floor.
Not Daniel’s office.
Not the boardroom.
The records level.
Lucas immediately understood.
“He’s going for the old servers.”
Daniel started toward the door.
Emily caught his arm.
“You’re staying.”
“He killed your mother.”
“And possibly my husband.”
Daniel stopped.
Emily held his gaze.
“We are not giving him the emotional reaction he expects.”
Catherine’s final request returned to Daniel.
Don’t.
Protect Emily.
End Bellweather.
He forced himself back into the chair.
Marcus sent federal agents toward the records floor.
But Thomas had anticipated them.
Fire alarms erupted throughout the building.
Red strobes began flashing.
Employees moved toward emergency exits.
On camera, doors unlocked automatically.
“He’s using the evacuation system,” Marcus said.
Lucas typed quickly.
“Jonathan’s archive is at seventy-eight percent.”
“Can he destroy it?”
“If Thomas reaches the physical server, yes.”
Emily stood.
“Then copy it.”
“I am.”
“Faster.”
Lucas almost smiled.
“I’m trying.”
A security feed appeared.
Thomas entered the server room.
He carried a small device.
Marcus swore.
“He’ll wipe the drives.”
Daniel reached for the radio.
Then another camera showed someone entering the corridor behind Thomas.
Rebecca.
Everyone froze.
Emily stared.
“What is she doing here?”
Marcus immediately called downstairs.
The answer made no sense.
Rebecca remained in federal custody.
Daniel looked again.
The woman had Rebecca’s height.
Rebecca’s hair.
Even Rebecca’s white coat.
But when she turned toward the camera, Daniel saw the difference.
Not Rebecca.
An operative.
Thomas had expected the transfer to Rebecca and brought someone disguised as her to authenticate it on internal cameras.
Bellweather planned stories before crimes happened.
Lucas’s screen reached ninety-one percent.
The disguised woman inserted an access card into the server room.
The door opened.
Thomas stepped toward the central rack.
Lucas whispered.
“Ninety-four.”
Thomas raised the device.
“Ninety-six.”
Daniel watched helplessly.
“Ninety-eight.”
Thomas connected the device.
The monitors flickered.
Then went black.
Lucas stared at his dead screen.
“No.”
Daniel’s heart sank.
But three seconds later another computer chimed.
Emily looked down.
A file had appeared.
Not on Lucas’s machine.
On hers.
JVALE_FINAL_AUDIO.
Lucas stared.
“He built a mirror.”
Emily clicked the file.
Thomas’s voice filled the room.
Clear.
Undeniable.
“You should never have married an Arden, Jonathan.”
Jonathan answered.
“I stopped working for you.”
“Nobody stops working for me.”
“What did you do to Catherine?”
A long pause.
Then Thomas spoke.
“The same thing I do when someone threatens everyone I built this to protect.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The recording continued.
Jonathan asked, “You killed her?”
Thomas’s answer came quietly.
“I corrected a problem.”
Nobody in the room moved.
Then Marcus’s radio exploded with shouting.
Thomas had escaped the server room.
May you like
And he was heading upstairs.
Toward them.
