Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Service Tunnel
Daniel ran toward the hallway.
Rachel caught his arm.
"My mother is gone."
"I know."
"Let go of me."
"No."
"Rachel."
"If whoever blew Building 19 took her, you running blind is exactly what they want."
Daniel jerked free.
"Then what do you suggest?"
Rachel looked at Officer Cole.
"Seal underground service exits, not the ballroom. Check kitchen access, maintenance corridors, loading dock, and the old communications tunnel."
General Hayes stared at her.
"How do you know about the tunnel?"
Rachel met his eyes.
"You really want to ask me that tonight?"
Hayes said nothing.
Thomas Reed arrived eleven minutes later.
To everyone else, he looked like another man in a dark suit.
To Daniel, who had met him twice at holiday dinners, he was Rachel's quiet administrative assistant.
Thomas walked directly to Rachel.
"Building 19 is burning."
"Casualties?"
"None confirmed."
"Vale?"
"Taken into custody."
"Victoria?"
"Camera picked her up entering a catering corridor at 21:14."
Daniel stared at Thomas.
"You have access to the cameras?"
Thomas looked at Rachel.
Rachel sighed.
"Daniel, Thomas doesn't schedule my meetings."
Daniel looked between them.
Thomas said, "I do occasionally."
Rachel almost smiled.
It disappeared.
"Show me."
Thomas handed her a tablet.
Footage showed Victoria moving quickly through the kitchen.
No one was dragging her.
She was alone.
Then a second figure appeared behind her.
Caroline Hayes.
General Hayes stepped closer.
"That's my daughter."
Caroline had disappeared too.
Hayes turned toward the ballroom.
"Caroline!"
Rachel watched the footage again.
Caroline was not pursuing Victoria.
They were moving together.
"Your daughter went willingly," Rachel said.
Hayes's expression hardened.
"No."
"Look at her body language."
Daniel leaned closer.
Caroline glanced backward once, then took Victoria's arm and guided her through a maintenance door.
Thomas switched cameras.
The next view showed both women entering a stairwell leading below the ballroom.
The camera went black three seconds later.
"Communications tunnel," Rachel said.
Hayes ordered troops toward the lower level.
Rachel stopped him.
"Not in formation."
Hayes glared.
"This is my installation."
"And someone just detonated an archive twenty yards from your gala. We don't know whose orders are compromised."
Hayes looked furious.
Then controlled himself.
"Fine."
Rachel, Daniel, Thomas, Hayes, and four trusted MPs entered the lower corridor.
The tunnel had been constructed during the Cold War.
Bare concrete.
Old cable mounts.
Emergency lamps every thirty feet.
Daniel moved beside Rachel.
"You've been down here."
"Years ago."
"When?"
"Before we met."
"Doing what?"
"Something I can't discuss here."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
Rachel stopped.
"Daniel."
He faced her.
"You want honesty? Here's honesty. I kept things from you because I was legally required to. But I never used those secrets to manipulate your life."
His expression shifted.
Rachel continued.
"Your mother did."
Daniel looked away.
They found Caroline first.
She was sitting against a concrete wall, barefoot, with blood on one side of her face.
General Hayes rushed toward her.
"Caroline."
She looked dazed.
"Dad."
"Where is Victoria?"
Caroline pointed down the tunnel.
"She ran."
Rachel crouched.
"What happened?"
Caroline looked at her.
"I followed her because she told me she knew who you were."
Rachel's expression sharpened.
"What exactly did she say?"
"She said you destroyed my father's career nine years ago."
Hayes looked at his daughter.
"That's not true."
Caroline laughed weakly.
"Which part?"
"Caroline."
"You told me Grayhaven was a logistics review."
Hayes went silent.
Rachel asked, "Why did Victoria bring you down here?"
"She wanted me to witness something."
"What?"
"A meeting."
"With who?"
Caroline's breathing changed.
"I never saw his face."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Was it my father?"
Caroline looked at him.
For several seconds, she did not answer.
Then she whispered, "He called Victoria by a name no one else uses."
Daniel's face tightened.
"What name?"
"Vicky."
Daniel went still.
Rachel looked at him.
Daniel explained quietly.
"My father called her that."
Thomas scanned the corridor.
"How far ahead?"
Caroline pointed.
"There's an old junction room."
Rachel stood.
General Hayes ordered an MP to remain with Caroline.
They continued.
At the junction room they found Victoria's pearl necklace.
Broken.
Three drops of blood.
And a chair.
Someone had placed a single photograph on the seat.
Rachel picked it up.
Seven soldiers stood in front of a transport aircraft.
The image had been taken approximately nine years earlier.
Rachel recognized herself at the far left.
General Hayes stood near the center.
Marcus Vale beside him.
Three other officers Rachel knew were dead.
And the seventh man...
Daniel took the photograph.
His hand began shaking.
The man was older than Daniel remembered.
Bearded.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
Colonel Frederick Whitmore.
The photograph had been taken six years after his official death.
Daniel looked at Rachel.
"You knew?"
"No."
"He's alive."
Rachel looked at the date printed on the back.
Nine years earlier.
"I know he was alive then."
Daniel turned to General Hayes.
"You stood beside him."
Hayes closed his eyes.
Daniel stepped toward him.
"You attended his funeral."
Hayes said nothing.
"You gave my mother the flag."
Still nothing.
Daniel shoved the photograph into Hayes's chest.
"You told me he died saving his men."
Hayes finally spoke.
"He did save them."
"Then why is he standing in this picture six years later?"
Hayes looked at Rachel.
"Because Frederick Whitmore died twice."
Rachel felt the tunnel become colder.
Hayes looked at Daniel.
"The first death protected the country."
Daniel's jaw clenched.
"And the second?"
May you like
Hayes's voice broke.
"The second protected you."
