Chapter 5 - FIFTEEN MINUTES
The officers searched Lydia Crane before moving her to the library.
They found no weapon.
No identification.
No communication device.
Only a silver key and a folded hospital bracelet bearing Claire’s name.
Daniel placed the bracelet on the table between them.
“Where is my wife?”
Lydia sat with her hands secured to the arms of the chair.
“Alive.”
“For how long?”
“That depends on whether Claire reaches the north gate.”
Claire stood behind Daniel.
Rebecca had ordered her to remain in the study, but Claire refused. Her mother had been taken because of her. She would not wait in another room while other people decided what she was allowed to know.
“Why does Vale want me?” she asked.
Lydia looked at her with open curiosity.
“He has searched for you for twenty-seven years.”
“He knew where I lived.”
“He knew where Daniel Mercer’s daughter lived. He did not know whether you were the child taken from him.”
“No child was taken from him,” Daniel said.
Lydia turned toward him.
“That is what Evelyn told you.”
Daniel struck both palms against the table.
“Enough.”
Lydia did not flinch.
“Your anger cannot alter the records.”
Claire stepped into her line of sight.
“What records?”
“The ones hidden at Fort Halston.”
Daniel looked toward Rebecca.
The colonel shook her head.
“Fort Halston was demolished fourteen years ago.”
“Most of it,” Lydia said.
Claire placed a hand on the table.
“Tell me where my mother is.”
“I cannot.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To ensure Daniel opens the second section of the folder.”
Daniel picked up the red leather file.
“There is no second section.”
Lydia nodded toward the clasp.
“The winged torch has seven flames. Press the third and sixth together.”
Daniel examined the metal emblem.
When he pressed the two flames, something clicked.
A hidden compartment opened along the back cover.
Inside rested a transparent strip of film.
Rebecca held it toward the light.
It contained numbers arranged in repeating groups.
“A location code,” she said.
Lydia smiled.
“Adrian believed you destroyed it.”
“I should have,” Daniel replied.
“What is it?” Claire asked.
Daniel looked at the strip.
“A map to the remaining Icarus sites.”
“Give it to Vale.”
“No.”
“He has Mom.”
“And if he receives this, he may gain access to weapons, identities, and hidden funds spread across several countries.”
Claire lowered her voice.
“He is threatening to kill your wife.”
Daniel’s expression did not change, but Claire saw the pain beneath it.
“He will kill her whether we obey or not.”
The room fell silent.
Lydia’s smile faded.
“You understand Adrian better than I expected.”
Daniel turned to Rebecca.
“Prepare a false strip.”
“We have less than ten minutes.”
“Then work quickly.”
Lydia leaned back.
“He will know.”
“Not until we find Evelyn.”
Claire stepped closer to her father.
“You aren’t taking me to the gate.”
“No.”
“Vale expects me.”
“He will receive what he expects to see.”
Daniel explained the plan.
A tactical officer of similar height would wear Claire’s purple coat. The team would approach the north gate in Daniel’s armored vehicle. A second unit would move through the woods. Rebecca would trace any transmission triggered when the false map was delivered.
Claire listened until he finished.
Then she said, “It won’t work.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Vale has been watching me inside hospitals and inside this house. He knows how I move. He knows I’m pregnant. He will recognize an officer.”
“We will keep the vehicle dark.”
“He will ask me to speak.”
“Then we will use a recording.”
Lydia laughed.
“Adrian will not be fooled by a recording.”
Daniel looked ready to order her removed.
Claire spoke first.
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“He wants me alive.”
“You cannot know that.”
“He believes I’m his daughter. That gives us time.”
Daniel’s voice rose.
“I will not use you as bait.”
Claire held his gaze.
“You used yourself as bait in wars I only learned about from news reports. You taught me that protecting people sometimes means walking toward danger with a plan.”
“You are carrying a child.”
“That is why I need Mom returned alive. My baby deserves to know her.”
Daniel looked away.
Claire saw that she had reached the part of him that was not a colonel.
The part that was simply her father.
Grant was brought into the room under guard.
He looked from Claire to the map strip.
“You found the coordinates.”
Daniel faced him.
“You are going to help us confirm Vale’s location.”
Grant gave a bitter smile.
“Why would you trust me?”
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
Grant looked at Claire.
“Vale will expect a phrase when you reach the gate.”
“What phrase?”
“The sun flew too near.”
Claire remembered the Icarus myth.
“And the response?”
“He will say, ‘Only because the father gave him wings.’”
Lydia turned toward Grant with disgust.
“You were told never to repeat that.”
Grant met her gaze.
“You were told never to hurt Claire.”
Lydia’s expression changed.
For the first time, she looked afraid of him.
Claire noticed.
“What did you do, Grant?”
He answered without looking away from Lydia.
“I copied every assignment she gave me.”
“Where are the files?”
“In an account connected to the four million dollars.”
“You said the money was safe.”
“It is. So is the evidence.”
Daniel studied him.
“Can you access it?”
“Only Claire can.”
Claire frowned.
“How?”
Grant looked down at her wedding ring.
“The account opens with the biometric signature stored in the ring.”
Claire slowly removed it.
She had worn the ring for three years without knowing it contained anything more than gold and a diamond.
Grant spoke quietly.
“I thought they would search me. I knew they would never take it from you.”
Claire placed the ring on the table.
“You were wrong.”
Grant’s eyes lifted.
“About what?”
“They took everything from me the moment you chose their secret over the truth.”
Before Grant could answer, the estate alarm changed tone.
A tactical officer entered.
“Movement at the north gate.”
Daniel checked the time.
Six minutes remained.
The officer continued.
“There’s a woman standing outside.”
“Evelyn?” Claire asked.
“No.”
He turned the surveillance screen toward them.
A young woman stood alone beneath the rain.
She held a white umbrella in one hand and a small baby blanket in the other.
May you like
When she looked directly into the security camera, Claire saw her face.
The woman looked almost exactly like her.
