Chapter 7 - The Code in Lily’s Storybook
Claire did not approach the key slots.
The terminal’s countdown continued.
00:40:09.
Elias Dane watched her through the screen.
“You have very little time.”
“You work for Wren,” Claire said.
“I work for the people your husband abandoned when he closed Lantern.”
“Nathan closed a network that sold human lives.”
“He also closed the only path home for hundreds still trapped under false identities.”
Claire looked toward Mercer.
“Is that possible?”
Mercer did not answer immediately.
“Lantern contained both victims and operatives. Closing it protected some people and stranded others.”
Elias leaned closer to the camera.
“My brother was one of them. Nathan promised to bring him home.”
“Your brother died six years ago.”
“That is the official version.”
Lily opened the Lighthouse Mouse book.
“My dad said official stories can be wrong.”
Elias’s expression softened for the first time.
“Your father was right.”
“Then why did you pretend to be your brother?”
“To enter places where Elias Dane was not welcome.”
Lily turned a page.
“Did my dad trust you?”
Elias glanced away.
“That depends on when you ask.”
Claire watched him carefully.
The storybook contained Nathan’s private code. If he had written instructions for Lily, he would have expected her to use them at the coffin.
“Lily, check the final page.”
Lily opened the back cover.
A small drawing of a lighthouse had been added in Nathan’s hand. Beneath it were four lines.
When two keys open one door,
One is meant to enter.
One is meant to remain.
The smallest keeper chooses.
Lily read the lines twice.
“Dad wants me to choose which key goes in.”
“There are two slots,” Cross said.
“Maybe only one should be used,” Voss replied.
Mercer studied the terminal.
“The brass key activated the station elevator and Locker 214. The silver key belonged to someone in the network.”
“Elias had it,” Claire said.
“No,” Lily corrected. “The man upstairs had it. We don’t know if that was Elias.”
On the screen, Elias smiled.
“She listens better than the adults.”
Claire held up the silver key.
“Who was the man at Locker 214?”
“One of Wren’s recovery agents.”
“He called Mercer.”
“He called someone using Mercer’s name. Wren has been manipulating military communications for years.”
Mercer frowned.
“That could explain the private frequency.”
“It could also be another convenient lie,” Cross said.
Claire looked at the keys.
The brass key had come directly from Nathan’s envelope.
The silver key had been taken from an unknown agent.
One was meant to remain.
“The brass key goes in,” Lily said.
“Why?” Claire asked.
“Because Dad gave it to us. The other person brought the silver one because they wanted us to think both were needed.”
She pointed to the terminal.
“The slots aren’t the same size.”
The left slot had a brass lining.
The right had a darker metal rim.
Claire inserted only the brass key.
The terminal turned white.
A new message appeared.
PRIMARY KEEPER VERIFIED.
The silver key in Claire’s hand began flashing red.
Mercer shouted.
“Drop it!”
Claire threw the key onto the ground.
A sharp pulse passed through the courtyard. Every radio carried by the guards shut down. The screen briefly filled with static.
The silver key had been a transmitter.
Elias’s image returned.
“Well done, Lily.”
The countdown stopped at thirty-six minutes.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
“You disabled Wren’s remote access. He now needs to reach the coffin physically.”
Cross looked toward the street.
“He will send his unit.”
“He already has.”
Beyond the iron fence, black vehicles appeared at both ends of the road.
Mercer ordered the church guards to remove their radio batteries and secure the gates.
For the first time, they obeyed him without consulting Wren.
Elias continued.
“Major Hale created a second code. It requires the primary keeper’s voice.”
Claire looked at Lily.
“No.”
“Mom.”
“No one is using your voice to open anything.”
Lily touched the recorder inside her purse.
“Dad chose me.”
“He chose you because he trusted you. That does not mean he expected you to risk your life.”
The first black vehicle stopped outside the gate.
Men in dark uniforms stepped out.
Cross checked the ceremonial rifles. They were unloaded.
“The church guards have limited ammunition,” he said.
Mercer looked toward the chapel.
“There is an old civil defense door beneath the altar. It can hold for several minutes.”
Claire removed the brass key from the terminal.
The coffin’s hidden compartment began closing.
Elias spoke urgently.
“Do not remove it.”
“Why?”
“The system has not completed authentication.”
A crash sounded at the outer gate.
Lily looked at the storybook again.
“There’s another line.”
A sentence had appeared beneath the lighthouse drawing, written in ink that became visible under the terminal’s light.
Claire read it aloud.
Do not trust the voice that speaks from the coffin.
Everyone looked at the screen.
Elias Dane was no longer smiling.
The image flickered.
Then Nathan’s face appeared behind him for half a second.
Not a recording.
Nathan was moving.
He looked directly toward the camera and mouthed two silent words.
Wrong coffin.
May you like
The screen went black.
The outer gate collapsed.
