Chapter 9 - THE ARCHIVE BELOW THE EAST WING
The pipe corridor descended toward the lowest level of Rosewood.
Thomas moved slowly.
Years of confinement had weakened him, but fear kept him upright.
Naomi used a flashlight no larger than a pen.
“Where does this lead?”
“The old hydrotherapy rooms.”
“Are they still used?”
“Not for therapy.”
The passage ended behind a metal grille.
Beyond it lay a tiled chamber filled with filing cabinets.
Rows extended into darkness.
Marianne helped Thomas remove the grille.
They entered.
Each cabinet was marked with a year and a code.
Naomi opened one drawer.
Inside were property deeds, medical assessments, court orders, and death certificates.
“All of this is evidence,” she whispered.
Thomas nodded.
“Thousands of lives.”
Marianne found a file marked Cole, Thomas.
It contained photographs of him inside Room 417, medication logs, and quarterly evaluations declaring him delusional and violent.
A signature appeared at the bottom of every report.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
“He kept you imprisoned,” she said.
“He also kept me alive.”
“Why?”
“Pike wanted to know where I hid the original ledger.”
“Did Vale know?”
“No.”
“Do you?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Yes.”
Before she could ask more, Naomi called from the next aisle.
“I found Rebecca.”
A patient file showed a woman named Rachel Hartman.
The photograph was Rebecca.
Her status read Staff Asset.
Marianne turned the page.
Rebecca had not been confined as a patient for the past five years.
She worked as Rosewood’s records supervisor.
“She is part of it,” Naomi said.
Thomas shook his head.
“She used the position to copy files.”
“How do you know?”
“She sent messages through patients.”
“Did you speak to her?”
“Twice.”
“In eight years?”
“Restricted wards are designed to isolate us.”
Naomi studied the recent entry.
Rebecca had authorized the transfer of Patient 417.
Thomas.
“She scheduled your death.”
“Or my escape.”
An intercom crackled.
Rebecca’s voice filled the archive.
“Naomi, take Thomas through the south tunnel.”
Naomi looked upward.
“Rebecca?”
“No time. Pike is sealing the building.”
“Where are you?”
“Control room.”
“I’m coming to you.”
“No.”
“I spent eight years believing you were dead.”
“And I spent eight years making sure you stayed alive.”
Naomi’s face crumpled.
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“The apartment fire. The anonymous payment after your surgery. The job at St. Matthew’s.”
Naomi stared at the speaker.
“You arranged my hospital job?”
“I needed someone outside the network.”
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than denial.
Rebecca continued.
“Marianne, cabinet H-12 contains Dr. Vale’s recordings. Take them.”
Marianne found the cabinet.
Inside sat six encrypted drives and a small digital recorder.
“What is on these?”
“Confessions, financial transfers, names.”
“Enough to arrest Pike?”
“Enough to frighten him.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No. It is more useful.”
Thomas looked toward the camera.
“Rebecca, where is the original ledger?”
Silence.
Then she answered.
“Where you left it.”
Marianne faced Thomas.
“Where?”
He did not reply.
The archive lights went out.
Emergency lights glowed near the floor.
Rebecca spoke again.
“Derek has told Pike about the lottery ticket.”
Marianne pressed one hand against the handbag.
“What does Pike plan to do?”
“Lock down the state commission. He will file a competing claim by midnight.”
“On what basis?”
“That Derek purchased the ticket and gave it to you for safekeeping.”
“That’s absurd.”
“He has a store receipt showing the lottery numbers were selected from a device registered in his name.”
Marianne remembered Derek giving her a lottery number app as a birthday present.
Every Friday, it generated numbers for her.
“He chose the winning numbers.”
“He designed the evidence to suggest he did.”
Naomi examined the drives.
“We need to claim the ticket now.”
“The commission office closes in forty minutes,” Rebecca said.
“We’re trapped beneath Rosewood.”
“A vehicle is waiting in the south tunnel.”
Naomi looked at the camera.
“Come with us.”
“I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because someone must keep the doors open.”
Thomas said, “Rebecca, Pike will kill you.”
“He has tried.”
A steel door lifted at the far end of the archive.
Beyond it lay a concrete tunnel.
“Go,” Rebecca ordered.
Naomi did not move.
“I’m not leaving you again.”
Rebecca’s voice softened.
“You never left me.”
“You made me think you were dead.”
“I made them think you believed it.”
A pounding began against the archive entrance.
Security had reached the upper door.
Rebecca continued.
“Naomi, there is a green file in cabinet B-4. Take it. Do not open it until you are outside.”
Naomi retrieved the file.
Marianne supported Thomas toward the tunnel.
At the threshold, Thomas stopped.
“What about Derek?”
Rebecca’s answer came after a pause.
“He made his choice.”
The archive door buckled.
Naomi looked once more toward the camera.
“I love you.”
Static answered.
Then Rebecca whispered, “Run.”
The steel tunnel door began to close.
They passed beneath it with seconds to spare.
Behind them, the archive filled with the sound of breaking locks.
The south tunnel led to a loading dock beyond Rosewood’s outer wall.
A black utility vehicle waited with the engine running.
No driver.
They climbed inside.
The dashboard navigation system displayed a route to the state lottery headquarters.
Thirty-six minutes away.
Marianne started the engine.
A final message appeared on the screen.
CLAIM THE MONEY.
TRUST NO FEDERAL AGENT.
AND DO NOT LET THOMAS TAKE YOU TO THE LAKE.
Marianne looked at her husband.
His face revealed that he had read it too.
“What is at the lake?” she asked.
May you like
Thomas looked away.
“The reason Pike kept me alive.”
