Chapter 9
Noah Pierce moved first.
“Put it on the ground.”
Daniel held the drive tightly.
Robert aimed at his chest.
Evelyn stood beside Emily.
Maria could feel the entire night narrowing toward one moment.
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Claire doesn’t know what she found.”
“She found you.”
“No.”
“You have the drive.”
“Yes.”
Robert’s voice became dangerous.
“How?”
Daniel looked toward him.
“I took it.”
Evelyn gasped.
Emily closed her eyes.
At least he had stopped lying about that part.
Pierce repeated, “Put it down.”
Daniel slowly lowered his hand.
But he did not release it.
“I stole it from federal custody.”
Robert stepped forward.
“You’re dead.”
Emily shouted, “Dad!”
Robert stopped.
Daniel looked at her.
“Thank you.”
“I didn’t do it for you.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“Why did you take it?”
“Because Claire contacted me.”
Emily stared.
“When?”
“Three days ago.”
“You said she called you tonight.”
“She did.”
“But you were already working with her.”
“Yes.”
“Why hide that?”
“Because she told me someone had accessed her father’s files.”
“Who?”
“She didn’t know.”
Daniel looked at Pierce.
“She gave me a name from the access history.”
Pierce’s face tightened.
“What name?”
“Yours.”
Pierce went still.
Evelyn looked at him.
“Noah?”
Daniel continued.
“Claire found logs showing Noah Pierce accessing Blackridge data six months before Robert supposedly died.”
Pierce raised his weapon higher.
“He’s lying.”
Daniel smiled bitterly.
“That’s the problem. I usually am.”
Emily stared at Pierce.
“Is it true?”
“No.”
“Did you access those files?”
“I was investigating.”
“Without telling my father?”
“Your father didn’t trust federal agencies.”
Robert said, “I had never heard of you then.”
Pierce glanced toward him.
That was enough.
Robert’s expression changed.
“You were inside the system before Evelyn contacted you.”
Pierce said nothing.
Evelyn stepped back.
“Noah.”
Daniel held up the drive.
“This is why I took it. I didn’t know who to trust.”
Maria almost laughed.
“Neither do the rest of us.”
Claire’s voice suddenly came from the phone.
“Daniel?”
He turned.
“You’re still there?”
“Yes.”
“Tell them about the second file.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Emily’s voice hardened.
“What second file?”
“On the drive.”
“What is it?”
Daniel looked at her.
“A list.”
“Of what?”
“Blackridge contacts.”
Robert stepped closer.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“I can identify them.”
“That’s exactly why I’m not giving it to you.”
Robert looked shocked.
Daniel continued.
“Your name is on the list.”
Emily stopped breathing.
Robert’s face became blank.
Claire whispered through the phone, “So is Evelyn’s.”
Emily turned to her mother.
Evelyn swayed.
“No.”
Daniel looked at Pierce.
“And Noah’s.”
Nobody spoke.
Maria felt as though the ground had shifted.
Emily looked at Daniel.
“Your name?”
He nodded.
“Mine too.”
She laughed softly.
“Of course.”
Daniel continued.
“But the list isn’t necessarily members.”
“What else would it be?”
“Targets. Partners. People being watched. We don’t know.”
Robert said, “We can decrypt the classification field.”
Daniel looked at him.
“How?”
Robert hesitated.
Emily almost screamed.
“Please, for once in your life, answer immediately.”
Robert said, “Cross Medical encryption.”
“You recognize it?”
“Yes.”
“Can you read it?”
“With the right terminal.”
“Where?”
Robert looked toward the family cemetery.
“No.”
Emily pointed at him.
“Not another tunnel.”
Despite everything, Maria almost smiled.
Robert said, “The main Cross Medical headquarters.”
Pierce shook his head.
“Too exposed.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You don’t get a vote right now.”
Pierce’s eyes narrowed.
Maria watched him carefully.
Something about his stance had changed.
Too rigid.
Too alert.
Pierce suddenly fired.
The shot struck Robert’s gun.
It flew into the mud.
Evelyn screamed.
Daniel grabbed Emily and pulled her behind the SUV.
Maria dropped.
Pierce fired again.
Robert rolled behind a tree.
“Move!” Daniel shouted.
Maria crawled toward Evelyn.
Pierce aimed at Daniel.
Daniel fired.
The bullet hit the SUV door.
Pierce disappeared behind another vehicle.
Emily shouted, “Noah!”
His voice came through the rain.
“I told Evelyn to destroy the drive!”
Evelyn stared.
“You?”
“You were supposed to burn it.”
“I gave it to federal custody!”
“And ruined everything.”
Robert shouted, “Who do you work for?”
Pierce laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“There is no Blackridge leadership.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
Pierce continued.
“Blackridge is a marketplace.”
“For what?” Maria shouted.
“Secrets.”
Rain hammered the vehicles.
Pierce’s voice carried through the darkness.
“Medical secrets. Corporate secrets. Political secrets. Memories. Evidence. Anything someone will pay to make disappear.”
Robert shouted, “Nathan created it?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Pierce laughed.
“You did.”
Silence.
Robert stared from behind the tree.
“No.”
“Your research created the product. Nathan created the buyers. Warren created the trials. Daniel created the financial access. Evelyn created the cover story every time her company faced scrutiny.”
Evelyn shouted, “I protected patients!”
“You protected the Cross name.”
Her face collapsed.
Emily looked at her mother.
“What does he mean?”
Evelyn did not answer.
Emily shouted, “Mom!”
Evelyn began crying.
“There were settlements.”
“What settlements?”
“Families.”
“Families of the people who died?”
“Yes.”
“You paid them?”
“Yes.”
“To stay quiet?”
“To keep the company alive.”
Emily stared at her.
Evelyn whispered, “I told myself we could fix it.”
Emily looked away.
Maria saw something change in her.
She had spent the entire night discovering villains.
Now she was learning most of them had once called themselves protectors.
Pierce fired again.
Daniel returned fire.
Then Pierce’s engine roared.
His SUV shot backward through the mud.
“He’s leaving!” Robert yelled.
Pierce accelerated toward the road.
Daniel jumped into their vehicle.
“Get in!”
Emily stopped him.
“No.”
“He has people everywhere.”
“And we have the drive.”
“For now.”
“We need the headquarters terminal.”
Robert nodded.
“She’s right.”
They got into the vehicle.
Maria sat beside Evelyn.
Nobody spoke to her.
Her face was hollow.
They drove toward Cross Medical headquarters.
Claire remained on the phone.
“Where are you?” Emily asked.
“Safe.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I’m at St. Matthew’s Church.”
Daniel glanced at the screen.
“Why there?”
“My father told me to go there if things went wrong.”
Robert frowned.
“Why?”
Claire said, “There’s a deposit box.”
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t opened it.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
“We need both.”
Robert said, “Terminal first.”
Daniel disagreed.
“Claire first.”
Emily made the decision.
“Claire.”
Robert stared at her.
“The drive is more important.”
“No.”
“It can expose everyone.”
“Claire is a person.”
Robert went silent.
Emily stared at him.
“That is the difference between us right now.”
They drove to the church.
The doors were open.
Too open.
Maria felt dread immediately.
Daniel entered first with the gun.
Emily followed despite every protest.
Inside, candles burned near the altar.
No Claire.
“Claire?” Daniel called.
A noise came from the confessional.
He rushed toward it.
Empty.
Emily saw a phone on the floor.
Claire’s phone.
Still connected to their call.
Maria whispered, “She was here.”
A drop of blood marked the wooden floor.
Then another.
Leading toward the sacristy.
Daniel’s face collapsed.
“Claire!”
He ran.
Inside the sacristy, they found her.
Alive.
Barely conscious.
Her hands were tied.
A cut marked her forehead.
Daniel dropped beside her.
“Claire.”
She opened her eyes.
“Daniel?”
“Yes.”
She began crying.
“He took it.”
“What?”
“The box.”
“Who?”
She looked past Daniel.
At Robert.
Then Evelyn.
“Noah.”
Robert cursed.
Claire grabbed Daniel’s shirt.
“He knows about the drive.”
“We still have it.”
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Claire stared at his hand.
“The one you took from federal custody was a copy.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel looked at the black flash drive.
Claire whispered, “The original was in the church box.”
Emily’s face drained.
“Noah has it.”
Claire nodded.
Robert stood.
“Then we’re out of time.”
“What does the original have that the copy doesn’t?” Maria asked.
Claire looked at him.
“The trial videos.”
Emily stared.
“What videos?”
Claire’s voice broke.
“Every subject.”
“Me?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Emily stepped backward.
Daniel rose.
“Emily.”
She shook her head.
“What did they record?”
Claire could barely answer.
“Everything.”
Emily’s face changed.
“My missing forty minutes.”
Claire nodded.
“Your father’s office.”
Emily covered her mouth.
“The night Nathan died.”
“Yes.”
Robert looked sick.
“Claire, what does the video show?”
Claire looked at Emily.
“I’m sorry.”
“Show what?”
“You were there before Nathan drank the whiskey.”
Emily stopped breathing.
“What did I do?”
May you like
Claire began crying.
“You handed him the glass.”
