Chapter 10 - THE EMPTY CRIB
The first thing Claire saw when the lights returned was Atlas standing beside the empty bed.
The second was the open passage door.
"Lily!"
She ran toward it, but Grant caught her before she entered.
"Wait."
"My daughter is gone!"
"The passage may be trapped."
Claire fought his grip. "Let me go."
Atlas moved into the tunnel.
Grant released her. They followed.
The passage split into three corridors. Fresh footprints appeared in the dust, small ones beside larger boot marks. Atlas chose the center corridor without hesitation.
Mara checked the data key. "The evidence is uploading to a hidden server."
"Can you stop it?" Grant asked.
"No. Someone is accessing it remotely."
Victor leaned against the wall, pale from blood loss. "Henry has a backup command center beneath the old chapel."
Grant turned. "You knew about it?"
"I knew he had one. I never found the entrance."
Claire saw the smallest hesitation in his voice.
"You know where it is."
Victor looked at her. "The chapel has a bell that has never rung."
They reached the estate chapel through a hidden stairwell. The building stood beyond the garden, its windows dark and its doors frozen shut. Atlas pushed against the bell tower wall.
Grant found a star-shaped mark beneath the dust.
The brass key fit.
The floor opened.
Below them was a command room filled with screens. Every screen showed Lily sitting in a wooden chair. Henry stood behind her. Miriam held a knife near the girl's shoulder.
Claire nearly collapsed.
"Where is she?"
Victor pointed to the largest screen. "That room is under the north wing."
Mara scanned the controls. "This is a live feed. There are cameras throughout the estate."
Grant stepped toward the screens. "Henry!"
Henry appeared on every monitor.
"Bring me the data key, and the girl walks out."
"You already have access to the data."
"I have access to the files. I need the physical key to decrypt the final account."
Mara whispered, "He is stalling."
Grant heard her. "Why?"
"The upload is not complete. He needs us to activate the key here."
Claire looked at the image of Lily. The child was not crying. She was staring at something beside the camera.
Claire leaned closer.
"Lily is pointing."
On the screen, Lily's finger touched the chair's left arm.
Atlas barked.
"He sees it too," Claire said. "There is something under the chair."
Mara enhanced the image. A small blue light blinked beneath the wood.
"A second transmitter," she said. "Or a tracker."
Grant raised his weapon. "Can you get into the room?"
Mara studied the map. "There is an old service lift from this chamber to the north wing."
Victor stepped forward. "I will take it."
Grant blocked him. "You are wounded."
"I know the security layout."
"You are also the reason we are in this position."
Victor looked through the monitor at Lily. "Then let me spend what is left of my life fixing it."
Grant considered him for one second. "Mara goes with you."
The service lift opened behind a false wall. Claire, Grant, Atlas, and Victor entered while Mara controlled the mechanism. The lift shook as it descended.
Halfway down, the lights flickered.
Victor pulled a small blade from his boot.
Grant aimed at him.
"What is that for?"
"The lift cables."
"You plan to cut them?"
"If the doors open at the wrong level."
The lift stopped.
The doors opened onto a dark corridor.
They heard Lily's voice.
"Mommy?"
Claire ran out.
Miriam appeared at the far end, dragging Lily behind her. Henry stood beside a control panel.
"Stop," he ordered.
Grant raised his weapon.
Henry pressed a button. A red light appeared above Lily's chair.
"One shot and the explosives under this wing detonate."
Claire froze.
Atlas moved slowly forward.
Miriam held Lily tighter. "Call him back."
Claire whispered, "Atlas, stay."
The dog did not stop.
Lily looked at him. "He knows the bad button."
Atlas continued.
Henry fired at the floor in front of him.
Atlas did not flinch.
He charged.
Miriam pulled Lily aside. Atlas struck her arm, knocking the knife away. Grant fired at Henry's control panel. Sparks burst from the wires.
The red light vanished.
Claire reached Lily and pulled her into her arms.
Henry fled through a side door.
Victor followed.
Grant shouted after him, but Victor did not turn.
Mara arrived with the evidence team. "We have the server connection. The files are being copied to federal investigators."
Claire held Lily tightly. "Is she hurt?"
Lily shook her head. "Atlas saved me."
Atlas stood beside them, breathing heavily.
Miriam was on the floor, handcuffed. She looked at Lily with hatred.
"You think this ends because you found the key?" she said. "The account names are already everywhere. The people above Henry will not let you live."
Mara crouched near her. "Who are the people above Henry?"
Miriam smiled.
"Ask Julian."
Claire felt Lily stiffen.
Grant returned alone.
"Where is Victor?" Mara asked.
Grant stared at the dark corridor. "He followed Henry into the lower tunnels."
"Did you see Henry escape?"
"No."
On the floor near the side door lay Victor's blade.
Beside it was a note written in blood.
THE FIRST TRAITOR WAS NEVER HENRY.
Atlas sniffed the note and backed away.
Lily looked down the corridor.
"Victor is crying," she said.
Claire listened.
At first, she heard nothing.
Then, beneath the hum of the emergency lights, came a faint tapping sound.
Three taps.
A pause.
Two taps.
Atlas lifted his head.
The signal came from beneath the floor.
Grant found a trapdoor hidden under the carpet. When he opened it, a narrow stairway descended into darkness.
At the bottom, Victor lay unconscious beside a locked steel case.
Henry was gone.
The case carried a label.
FOR LILY BENNETT, WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW WHY HER MOTHER HAD TO LIE.
May you like
Claire looked at her daughter.
The case began to unlock by itself.
