Chapter 15 - Evelyn Shaw's Last Dose
Elias survived because the railing had trapped his leg instead of crushing it.
Vincent's men freed him and moved him into the maintenance building where Mercer treated the fracture.
Arthur watched from a chair with his own shoulder wrapped in white gauze.
The two wounded men looked at one another with fifteen years of history between them.
Arthur spoke first.
"You got old."
Elias grimaced.
"You got slow."
"I got shot."
"That usually slows people down."
Mercer snapped, "Both of you stop talking."
Dominic stood near the window watching the port control tower.
Daniel had gone silent.
The crane system had been disabled manually after the attack.
Port security searched every floor of the tower and found nobody.
Daniel had spoken through a remote connection.
Again, he had been close enough to control the scene and far enough to avoid being touched.
Dominic hated that strategy because it was familiar.
Their father had taught both sons to control rooms before entering them.
Daniel had learned the lesson differently.
Vincent placed a laptop on the desk.
"I pulled a copy of the rewritten archive before we isolated the staging device."
Dominic looked at the screen.
"Can it be reversed?"
"Maybe."
"That sounds encouraging."
"It should not."
Vincent opened a comparison log.
"Daniel did not merely change records."
"What did he do?"
"He inserted signed authorization certificates."
Dominic leaned closer.
The certificates carried cryptographic signatures from historical Vale hardware keys.
Keys that should have been destroyed years ago.
Arthur looked over.
"Vittorio's keys."
Vincent nodded.
"And Dominic's."
"My keys from when?"
"Some date back thirteen years."
Dominic frowned.
"Those were physically shredded."
Arthur looked at Elias.
"Were they?"
Elias closed his eyes.
Dominic approached him.
"Answer."
Elias opened his eyes again.
"Daniel collected discarded hardware through a waste contractor."
Vincent's face hardened.
"For fifteen years?"
"Yes."
"Every retired security token?"
"Not every one."
"Enough."
Elias nodded.
Dominic looked at Arthur.
"Your security company handled hardware disposal."
Arthur's face turned gray.
"My nephew did."
"Did you know?"
"No."
"You say that often."
Arthur stood despite his wound.
"And you think I enjoy discovering my company was Daniel's supply cabinet?"
Dominic did not answer.
Mercer's phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His face changed.
"Evelyn."
Vincent immediately held out his hand.
Mercer shook his head.
"She will hang up if anyone else answers."
Dominic nodded toward the speaker button.
Mercer answered.
"Evelyn."
A woman's voice came through, calm and tired.
"You always did pick terrible nights to become brave, Sam."
Mercer's jaw tightened.
"Where are you?"
"Close enough."
Dominic almost laughed at how many people in this conspiracy loved that phrase.
Mercer said, "You altered Dominic's medication."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Daniel needed time."
"You could have permanently damaged him."
"I calculated the dose."
Mercer's face filled with disgust.
"Human bodies do not follow calculations because you want them to."
"You taught me that."
"Apparently not well enough."
Evelyn was silent.
Then she said, "Is Elias alive?"
Dominic looked at him.
Elias nodded once.
Mercer answered, "Yes."
A breath came through the phone.
Relief.
"Daniel tried to kill him," Mercer said.
"I know."
"Then why are you still helping Daniel?"
Evelyn's voice changed.
"I am not."
Dominic moved closer.
Mercer looked at him.
"Prove it."
Evelyn spoke quickly now.
"The original port archive still exists."
Vincent straightened.
"Where?"
Evelyn heard the unfamiliar voice and stopped.
Mercer said, "Vincent is here."
"And Dominic?"
Dominic answered.
"Listening."
Evelyn exhaled.
"The original archive was mirrored to a medical imaging server because Daniel trusted hospital storage more than corporate systems."
Dominic looked at Mercer.
"Where?"
Evelyn continued.
"Lakeshore Medical."
Mercer closed his eyes.
"Of course."
"Server designation R-6."
Vincent wrote it down.
"Credentials?"
"Mine."
"Give them."
Evelyn did.
Then she said, "You have less than an hour."
Dominic frowned.
"Why?"
"Daniel knows the mirror exists."
"Then why has he not destroyed it?"
"Because I changed the access code yesterday."
Vincent looked impressed despite himself.
"And now?"
"He knows I changed sides."
A noise sounded behind Evelyn.
A door.
Then footsteps.
Mercer stood.
"Evelyn?"
Her breathing changed.
"Someone is here."
Dominic motioned for Vincent to trace the call.
Vincent was already working.
Mercer said, "Get out."
Evelyn laughed softly.
"Still giving instructions after twenty years."
"Evelyn."
"Sam, listen to me."
Her voice became urgent.
"The injections were supposed to stop after two doses."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"I received three."
"I know."
"Who ordered the third?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"Daniel."
"Why?"
"Because you walked fifty feet in rehabilitation."
Dominic felt the cruelty of that answer more sharply than expected.
His progress had become a reason to hurt him again.
Evelyn continued.
"He watched the therapy feed."
Mercer stared at the phone.
"There was no therapy feed."
"There was after Elias installed one."
Vincent looked toward Elias.
The older man closed his eyes.
Dominic's voice stayed controlled.
"Did Daniel watch Ellie find the brace?"
Evelyn did not answer.
"Evelyn."
"Yes."
Clare had been right.
Ellie became dangerous the moment she noticed the retaining plate.
Dominic heard another sound through the phone.
A man speaking in the distance.
Evelyn whispered, "He is here."
Mercer went pale.
"Daniel?"
"No."
A second later, the call ended.
Vincent looked at the trace.
"Lakeshore Medical."
Dominic grabbed his cane.
Mercer stood.
"I am coming."
"No."
Mercer's face hardened.
"She saved the archive."
"She poisoned my leg."
"Both are true."
Dominic stared at him.
Mercer did not look away.
"If Daniel sent someone after her, she is the only person who knows how the mirror is hidden."
Arthur spoke from behind them.
"Take him."
Dominic turned.
Arthur looked exhausted.
"For once, Sam is right."
Mercer almost smiled.
Dominic nodded.
They reached Lakeshore Medical at 2:51 a.m.
The private rehabilitation wing was nearly empty.
Security met them at the entrance after Vincent called ahead.
Mercer led them toward imaging.
Room R-6 was locked.
Evelyn's credentials opened it.
Inside, a bank of servers hummed behind a glass partition.
A woman's shoe lay near the desk.
Mercer picked it up.
"Evelyn."
Vincent searched the room.
No blood.
No body.
The server terminal displayed a login screen.
Mercer entered Evelyn's credentials.
Access denied.
He tried again.
Denied.
Vincent looked at him.
"She changed it."
Mercer stared at the keyboard.
Then his face softened with recognition.
"No."
He typed a phrase.
The screen unlocked.
Dominic looked at him.
"What was it?"
Mercer did not answer.
Vincent read the password field before it disappeared.
"Blue September."
Mercer looked embarrassed.
"It was a place we planned to visit."
Vincent said nothing.
Even he understood some history did not need commentary.
The archive mirror appeared.
Original records.
Untouched authorization logs.
The proof Dominic needed existed on the screen.
Vincent started copying it to three encrypted drives.
The progress bar reached twelve percent.
Then the room door locked behind them.
Dominic turned.
The ventilation system stopped.
A faint hiss came from the ceiling.
Mercer looked up.
"That is not normal."
Vincent tried the door.
Sealed.
A warning flashed on the screen.
MEDICAL GAS PURGE TEST.
Mercer's face changed.
"Get down."
Dominic looked at him.
"What gas?"
"I do not know."
The lights dimmed.
The copy reached twenty-seven percent.
Vincent smashed the glass partition with a fire extinguisher.
It cracked but held.
Mercer grabbed a chair and hit the same point.
The glass splintered.
A man appeared on the other side of the partition.
Dark coat.
Black gloves.
Not Daniel.
The man held Evelyn Shaw by the arm.
Her face was bruised.
A syringe pressed against her neck.
Mercer froze.
The man looked through the cracked glass at Dominic.
Then he smiled.
"Daniel said you would come for the records."
Dominic looked at the progress bar.
Forty-one percent.
The man pushed the syringe into Evelyn's neck.
Mercer shouted her name.
May you like
The screen went black.
