Chapter 4 - Architect)
Daniel called Briggs eleven times.
No answer.
Marcus contacted military security through an old connection.
Within thirty minutes, officers reached Briggs's residence.
The house was empty.
No signs of forced entry.
His vehicle remained in the driveway.
His phone lay on the kitchen counter.
Colonel Briggs had disappeared.
Daniel stared at Marcus.
"This happened because I called him."
"No."
"They were watching him."
"They were already watching him."
"Because of me."
Marcus closed the laptop.
"That guilt isn't useful."
Daniel looked toward the bedroom where Maya slept.
"Neither is sitting here."
Marcus agreed.
They needed evidence.
Real evidence.
Something stronger than screenshots and forged documents.
Ashford Storage Center became their first target.
But Daniel didn't go there.
Marcus sent an investigator.
A former state trooper named Elena Price.
She entered the facility posing as an insurance adjuster.
Unit 117 was registered to Blue Meridian Holdings.
The same company that had received money from Daniel's accounts.
Elena photographed the unit from outside.
Electronic lock.
Interior camera.
Temperature control.
Far more security than ordinary storage required.
Then she discovered something better.
Unit 118 belonged to an elderly man who stored antique furniture.
Marcus rented it from him for three times its monthly price.
At 2:13 the following morning, Marcus drilled a tiny observation hole through the dividing wall.
Daniel watched remotely.
Unit 117 contained filing cabinets.
Computers.
Boxes.
And photographs.
Hundreds of photographs.
Marcus zoomed in.
Daniel saw himself.
Maya.
Victoria.
Julian.
Then other families.
"Jesus."
Marcus whispered, "We're looking at an archive."
At 4:07 a.m., someone entered.
Eric Sloan.
Daniel watched the lawyer unlock a cabinet.
Sloan removed several folders.
Then Julian arrived.
Daniel leaned toward the monitor.
Their conversation came through a directional microphone Marcus had installed.
Julian sounded angry.
"He came home early."
Sloan replied, "We know."
"He saw Maya."
"That was careless."
"My mother handled her."
"Your mother has handled nothing."
Julian lowered his voice.
"What does Architect want?"
Daniel and Marcus exchanged a look.
Sloan answered.
"The schedule remains unchanged."
"What schedule?"
"Friday."
Julian paced.
"Daniel knows about the transfers."
"Then Friday becomes more important."
"What happens Friday?"
Sloan stared at him.
"You don't need to know."
Julian grabbed Sloan's arm.
"I've done everything you people asked."
Sloan looked down at Julian's hand.
"Remove it."
Julian did.
Sloan continued.
"You received the company shares."
"I was promised control."
"You were promised an opportunity."
"My brother can reverse everything."
"Not after Friday."
Daniel felt cold.
Julian stopped moving.
"What happens to Daniel Friday?"
Sloan closed the cabinet.
"Nothing."
"Then how—"
"Daniel Hayes will no longer own anything worth taking."
Sloan walked out.
Julian remained alone.
He kicked a box.
Then his phone rang.
"Mom?"
Daniel leaned closer.
Julian listened.
"No, don't call him."
Pause.
"I don't care if he's your son."
Pause.
"Because Architect said no."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
Even Victoria answered to Architect.
Julian suddenly looked toward the dividing wall.
Daniel froze despite being thirty miles away.
Julian approached.
Closer.
Closer.
He placed his hand against the wall.
Marcus whispered through Elena's earpiece.
"Don't move."
Julian listened.
Nothing.
Then he stepped away.
Daniel exhaled.
The call continued.
"Fine. I'll meet you at Caldwell's."
Julian left.
Daniel immediately stood.
"Caldwell."
Marcus nodded.
"Could be our opening."
They followed Julian electronically through a tracker Elena had attached beneath his Mercedes.
He drove to Caldwell's private clinic.
Victoria arrived fourteen minutes later.
Sloan arrived six minutes after that.
Daniel wanted to go.
Marcus refused.
"You're emotionally involved."
"Of course I'm emotionally involved."
"Which is why you're staying here."
Elena positioned a microphone outside Caldwell's office.
The audio was imperfect.
But they heard enough.
Victoria:
"Daniel will never forgive this."
Sloan:
"He doesn't need to."
Victoria:
"You said Maya would sign and Daniel would remain overseas until October."
Caldwell:
"His rotation changed."
Victoria:
"Then fix it."
Sloan laughed.
"Fix the Army?"
Victoria slammed something.
"I want my son protected."
Julian:
"Protected? He wants to destroy us."
Victoria:
"Because you hurt his wife."
Julian:
"You told me to scare her."
Victoria:
"I told you to make her cooperate."
Daniel closed his eyes.
There it was.
Confirmation.
His own mother.
Sloan interrupted.
"Enough. Friday proceeds."
Victoria:
"And Maya?"
Caldwell:
"We finish the competency petition."
Daniel opened his eyes.
Sloan:
"Once she's legally incompetent, her testimony becomes manageable."
Julian:
"What about Daniel?"
Silence.
Then another voice spoke.
A voice none of them recognized.
Distorted through a speaker.
Architect.
"Daniel is not the problem."
Everyone in Caldwell's office became silent.
Architect continued.
"Daniel is the solution."
Daniel stared at the receiver.
Victoria said quietly:
"What does that mean?"
Architect answered:
"Friday, Sergeant Hayes will give us exactly what we've wanted for eleven years."
The connection ended.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
"Eleven years?"
Marcus frowned.
"How long have you owned the company?"
"Seven."
"Then this started before the company."
Daniel's thoughts raced backward.
Eleven years.
His father's death had occurred eleven years ago.
Daniel stood.
"No."
Marcus saw his expression.
"What?"
"My father."
"What about him?"
Daniel walked toward his bag.
"My father died eleven years ago."
"Car accident?"
"That's what we were told."
Daniel pulled out his phone.
He searched an old photograph.
His father, Colonel Samuel Hayes.
Beside Samuel stood a younger Daniel.
And behind them, partially visible, stood Nathan Caldwell.
Marcus stared at the image.
Daniel whispered:
"This didn't start with Maya."
He enlarged the photograph.
Samuel Hayes wore a distinctive silver ring.
Daniel suddenly remembered something.
After his father's death, Victoria said the ring had been lost in the crash.
But Daniel had seen that ring recently.
He just couldn't remember where.
Then it hit him.
The storage unit.
One of the evidence photographs.
Daniel grabbed Marcus's laptop.
He rewound the recording.
Stopped.
Zoomed.
Inside a transparent evidence bag in Unit 117 was a silver military ring.
Samuel Hayes's initials were engraved across its face.
S.H.
May you like
Daniel's father hadn't simply been connected to the conspiracy.
Someone had kept a trophy.
