Chapter 15 - The Second Rescue Door
Emergency lights illuminated the underground house.
Torres ordered everyone away from Rescue Door B.
“Whoever spoke may be inside,” she said.
Evelyn held Clara against her chest.
“That was my father’s voice.”
“It may be a recording.”
“He called me Evelyn. The old recordings were made when I was eight.”
Mira touched the speaker.
“It could have been programmed.”
Rosa stood before the second door.
“Nathan always called you Evie.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“What?”
“In private, he called you Evie. He only used Evelyn when he wanted you to listen carefully.”
The speaker activated again.
“Rosa, move away from the door.”
Rosa’s face lost all color.
“That is not an old recording.”
Torres signaled to her officers.
“Identify yourself.”
The man did not answer.
Adrian examined the control panel.
“This door is connected to a tunnel outside the tower.”
“Where does it lead?” Evelyn asked.
“The system does not say.”
A red countdown appeared on the panel.
10:00.
“What happens when it reaches zero?” Mira asked.
Adrian typed several commands.
“I cannot tell.”
The speaker crackled.
“Evelyn, Northbridge knows Clara activated the trust. They will come for the evidence, the shares and the child.”
Torres moved toward the camera.
“Open the door with your hands visible.”
“No.”
“Then we will open it.”
“You will expose the tunnel.”
“That may be exactly what we need.”
The voice became urgent.
“The tunnel does not only lead out. It leads to every place Nathan Vale was forced to build.”
Evelyn stepped toward the speaker.
“Are you my father?”
Silence.
“Answer me.”
The countdown reached 08:41.
A printer began operating beside the communication console.
A photograph emerged.
It showed Nathan Vale standing in front of a cabin in the mountains.
He appeared at least twenty years older than he had in the construction pictures.
The photograph had been taken six months earlier.
Beside him stood Lila Grant.
A third person’s face had been cut from the image.
On the back were coordinates and a date.
Tomorrow.
Rosa examined the picture.
“He is alive.”
“We do not know that,” Torres warned.
Evelyn looked toward Rescue Door B.
“Why did he stay hidden?”
The voice answered.
“Because your father was not hiding from the Harts.”
“Who was he hiding from?”
“The person who signed the first Northbridge contract.”
“Celeste?”
“No.”
“William?”
“No.”
The countdown reached seven minutes.
“Then who?”
The underground elevator activated behind them.
Someone was descending.
Torres positioned officers on both sides of the doors.
Adrian checked the security feed.
“The camera is blocked.”
The speaker spoke again.
“Do not let the person in that elevator see the second door.”
“Why?”
“Because they have spent thirty years searching for it.”
The elevator slowed.
Rosa took Clara from Evelyn so she could move freely.
Mira opened the photograph again.
“There is writing beneath the cut section.”
Evelyn held it under the emergency light.
A single name had been partially removed.
Only the final letters remained.
VALE.
Evelyn’s breath stopped.
“My father was the only Vale involved.”
Rosa shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
Rosa’s voice trembled.
“There was another.”
The elevator reached the underground level.
The doors began to open.
Evelyn turned toward Rosa.
“Who?”
Rosa tightened her arms around Clara.
“Your father had a brother.”
“A brother?”
“An older brother whose name was removed from every family record after Northbridge was created.”
The elevator doors opened fully.
A tall figure stood inside wearing a gray coat.
The person raised both hands.
It was Lila Grant.
Torres lowered her weapon slightly.
“Where is Nathan Vale?”
Lila looked at the photograph in Evelyn’s hand.
“You opened the shelter too soon.”
“My father told me to leave.”
“That was not your father.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“I know his voice.”
“Northbridge has used his voice for years.”
The countdown reached 04:12.
“Who is behind the second door?” Adrian asked.
Lila looked toward him.
“No one.”
“Then why is someone speaking through it?”
“Because Rescue Door B is not a door into this room.”
She approached the panel.
“It is a remote lock controlling an entrance somewhere else.”
“Where?”
Lila entered the coordinates from the photograph.
A live video feed appeared on the wall.
It showed the mountain cabin.
The front door stood open.
A chair had been overturned inside.
Fresh footprints crossed the snow.
A man entered the frame.
His face was hidden beneath a hood, but a silver ring was visible on his hand.
Evelyn recognized it from childhood photographs.
It had belonged to Nathan.
The man moved close to the cabin camera.
He looked directly into the lens.
“Evie,” he said.
Evelyn could not breathe.
The man lifted his head, but the image distorted before his face became visible.
Behind him, another figure entered the cabin.
The second figure carried the same brass key Rosa had hidden for thirty years.
The video feed froze.
The countdown reached 00:10.
Lila turned toward Evelyn.
“When the second door opens, one of those men will be able to reach this tower.”
“Which one is my father?”
“I do not know.”
00:05.
“Can we stop it?”
“Not anymore.”
00:03.
Rosa held Clara closer.
00:02.
Adrian stepped in front of Evelyn.
00:01.
Rescue Door B unlocked.
Cold air rushed through the opening.
A light appeared at the far end of a long underground tunnel.
Someone was walking toward them.
The speaker activated one final time.
“Evelyn, whatever face he shows you, do not tell him where your daughter is.”
May you like
The footsteps moved closer.
And the tower began remembering again.
