Chapter 10: The Choice He Expected
Smoke began pouring into the chamber holding Claire and Lily.
Mara searched the control panel.
“Kane has locked us out.”
Daniel Cross lay on the floor, conscious but bleeding.
He pressed his hand against his shoulder.
“There is a manual release in the eastern corridor.”
“That is where Kane wants me to go,” I said.
“Yes.”
I looked through the narrow window in the steel door.
Claire covered Lily’s mouth with part of her jacket.
Lily pounded against the glass.
Kane expected me to choose between my family and the archive.
It was the kind of choice he had trained us to exploit.
One target.
Two emergencies.
Force the opponent to sacrifice something and let guilt destroy whatever remained.
I removed the satellite phone from my belt.
“Code Black channel,” I said. “Command override Hale Seven.”
The device denied access.
Kane had revoked my credentials.
I looked at Daniel.
“What was the backup phrase?”
His face tightened.
“We stopped using it after Prague.”
“What was it?”
“Lanterns do not burn alone.”
I entered the phrase.
The archive system hesitated.
Then a hidden emergency menu appeared.
Kane had designed the system using our old protocols.
He believed I had forgotten them.
I activated the fire-suppression system.
Water exploded from the ceiling.
The smoke thinned.
At the same moment, Mara disabled the remote transfer connection.
The evidence remained protected.
Kane had forced me to make a choice.
Instead, we saved both.
The steel door released.
I reached Claire and Lily as the ventilation system shut down.
Mara’s team moved through the eastern tunnel.
They found Richard near the secondary exit.
He had a weapon in one hand and a portable drive in the other.
“Drop it!” an agent shouted.
Richard grabbed Claire and pulled her against him.
“This is her fault,” he screamed. “All of it!”
Lily stepped forward.
“No, Richard.”
He turned toward her.
“You should have signed.”
“You should have understood that owning a house does not mean you own the people inside it.”
Richard’s hand trembled.
For the first time, I saw him without the mansion, the police chief, or his mother standing behind him.
He was not powerful.
He was terrified.
Kane appeared at the far end of the tunnel.
He raised his weapon toward Richard.
Richard realized too late that Kane intended to silence him.
I pulled Claire down.
Mara fired first.
Kane disappeared behind a concrete support as agents returned fire.
Richard dropped his weapon and collapsed against the wall.
The portable drive slid across the floor.
Kane escaped through the eastern exit.
Outside, agents found an abandoned vehicle and a dead communication device.
But Richard was alive.
And now he wanted protection.
“They will kill me,” he said as agents restrained him.
“Then tell us where Kane is going,” Mara replied.
Richard looked at Lily.
Hatred and desperation fought across his face.
Finally, he spoke.
“Private airfield north of the county line. He has a plane waiting.”
“When does it leave?”
Richard laughed weakly.
“It already did.”
Mara checked the portable drive.
The copied evidence was gone.
Only one document remained.
A federal indictment bearing Lily’s name.
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According to the document, she had created the entire corruption network.
And the indictment had been signed by the United States Attorney ten minutes earlier.
