Chapter 12 - The Library Beneath the Hospital
The evacuation happened quietly.
Emily was transferred under police escort to a military medical facility.
Nathan went with her.
Alan remained at St. Catherine.
Richard and Claire returned with a federal warrant.
Behind a restricted records room in the hospital's oldest wing, engineers discovered a sealed elevator shaft.
The elevator descended three levels beneath official blueprints.
At the bottom was a climate-controlled archive.
Thousands of paper files.
Servers.
Photographs.
Biometric records.
Passports.
Medical records.
Lives.
Richard walked between the shelves.
Every folder represented someone Michael Mercer could control.
Claire whispered, "Katherine hid her archive inside his."
Richard almost smiled.
"She knew he'd protect it."
A technician connected to the servers.
Encrypted partitions appeared.
One bore Katherine's initials.
K.H.
Richard stared.
His wife had remained in this war long after he believed she had escaped it.
The archive began copying.
Then alarms sounded.
Someone had triggered a remote purge.
Technicians scrambled.
"Server temperatures rising."
"Kill network access."
"It isn't network."
"What?"
"Physical destruction protocol."
Sprinklers activated.
But instead of water, a chemical suppressant flooded part of the room.
Smoke poured from a server rack.
Richard grabbed a technician and pulled him back.
Claire shouted for evacuation.
One terminal remained active.
A message appeared.
HELLO, RICHARD.
Then:
YOU ALWAYS ARRIVE AFTER KATHERINE.
Richard stared.
Another message.
SHE WAS BETTER AT THIS THAN YOU.
Then:
BUT EMILY ISN'T.
Richard grabbed the keyboard.
WHERE IS SHE?
No answer.
A new line appeared.
ASK YOUR BROTHER.
The terminal died.
Richard called Thomas.
No answer.
Then his phone received a video.
Thomas was sitting in a dark room.
Hands tied.
Face bruised.
Behind him stood a man.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Calm eyes.
Michael Mercer.
The first clear image Richard had seen in decades.
Michael spoke into the camera.
"Hello, Colonel."
Richard's fists tightened.
"You've spent years imagining what you'd do if you found me."
Michael smiled.
"Now we get to discover whether imagination survives reality."
He placed a hand on Thomas's shoulder.
"Bring me the bracelet."
Richard stared.
Michael continued.
"And bring Sarah."
"No."
Michael smiled.
"Then your brother dies."
Richard looked at Thomas.
Thomas shook his head violently.
"Don't."
Michael struck him.
The video shook.
Richard's expression hardened.
Michael leaned close to the camera.
"Katherine understood sacrifice."
Richard whispered, "You never understood her."
Michael's smile disappeared.
Then he said something Richard did not expect.
May you like
"I understood her better than you did."
The transmission ended.
