Chapter 14: Forty-Three Names
The maintenance passage opened into a room filled with old electrical equipment.
A single computer sat on a metal desk.
Jacob rushed toward it.
"Help me.""
I placed the flash drive into the computer.
A password screen appeared.
Jacob typed six numbers.
The screen opened.
Folders filled the monitor.
Each contained names, photographs, financial records, and signed agreements.
Harris leaned closer.
"Good God.""
I opened the first folder.
A list of forty-three names appeared.
Some belonged to wealthy businessmen.
Others belonged to doctors, lawyers, and public officials.
At the top was a familiar name.
Raymond Cole.
Below it was another.
Dr. Nathaniel Voss.
And then I saw the name that made my hands stop moving.
*MARGARET MERCER.*
My mother.
I opened the document.
It was a signed agreement authorizing Jacob's transfer.
The payment amount was listed beneath her signature.
One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
Sarah stood behind me.
"Oh, Cole.""
I closed the document.
I couldn't look at it anymore.
Then Jacob pointed to another file.
"There's something you need to see.""
It contained an audio recording.
I pressed play.
My father's voice emerged.
"Where is my son?""
My mother's voice answered.
"He's gone, Robert.""
"Where?""
"He's dead.""
"Let me see him.""
Silence.
Then my father began crying.
"I want to hold my boy.""
My mother whispered:
"You can't.""
The recording ended.
I sat motionless.
My father had never known.
For twenty-nine years, he'd believed he had lost his youngest child.
And my mother had allowed him to grieve.
I thought about the tiny white coffin.
The way he'd stood beside it in the rain.
The way he'd stopped celebrating birthdays after that year.
I had always believed grief had changed him.
Now I understood.
He had been mourning a child who was still alive.
Jacob placed a hand on my shoulder.
"I found another recording.""
I looked at him.
"From whom?""
"Mom.""
He opened the file.
My mother's voice returned.
This time, she was crying.
"Robert, if you ever hear this, I need you to know I made a terrible mistake.""
A long pause followed.
"I thought I was helping Jacob. They promised he'd receive treatment. They promised he'd come home.""
She began sobbing.
"Then they told me the money had already been spent. They said if I told anyone, they'd take Cole too.""
I gripped the desk.
She continued.
"I know you hate me. You should. But I never wanted our boys separated.""
The recording stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Then Sarah pointed toward another file.
"What's that?""
Jacob opened it.
A scanned letter appeared.
It was addressed to Nathaniel Voss.
The handwriting belonged to my mother.
*I WANT MY SON BACK. I WILL GIVE BACK EVERY PENNY. PLEASE TELL ME WHERE HE IS.*
A response had been typed beneath it.
*YOUR AGREEMENT IS FINAL. CONTACTING AUTHORITIES WILL RESULT IN THE PERMANENT LOSS OF BOTH CHILDREN.*
I felt sick.
My mother had tried to reverse the deal.
But she had been threatened.
I didn't know whether that made her a victim or a criminal.
Maybe both.
Harris checked his watch.
"We need to get out of here.""
Jacob nodded.
"There's an external transmission line.""
He pointed toward the computer.
"If we send the files to the state investigators, the FBI, and every news station, Voss can't bury them.""
"Can you do it?""
"Yes. But I need ten minutes.""
We didn't have ten minutes.
A heavy door slammed somewhere outside.
Footsteps approached.
Jacob looked toward the passage.
"He's coming.""
Harris raised his weapon.
"Get the files sent.""
Jacob began typing.
I moved toward the door.
Sarah grabbed my arm.
"Don't.""
I looked at her.
"He's not getting near Lily again.""
She shook her head.
"That's not what I meant.""
She reached inside her jacket and pulled out a small pistol.
"Voss has another weapon.""
"What?""
"His people have orders to destroy the facility if the records leave the building.""
I stared at her.
"How do you know?""
"Because I heard him give the order.""
A voice came through the intercom.
"Attention. Emergency evacuation protocol initiated.""
A countdown appeared on the monitor.
<text color="danger" weight="semibold" inline>SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE: 08:00</text>
Jacob looked up.
"We have eight minutes.""
Harris swore.
"Can you stop it?""
"Not from here.""
"Then where?""
Jacob pointed toward the lower corridor.
"The control room.""
I looked at the screen.
The files were still uploading.
*62 percent.*
"How long?""
"Four minutes.""
"And the control room?""
"Three minutes away.""
I made my decision.
"Jacob, finish the upload. Sarah, stay with the children. Harris, come with me.""
Harris nodded.
We ran toward the passage.
But before we reached the door, it opened.
Nathaniel Voss stood on the other side.
He was holding a handgun.
Behind him stood Sheriff Raymond Cole.
The sheriff looked at Harris.
"Michael, put your weapon down.""
Harris raised his gun.
"You're under arrest.""
The sheriff laughed.
"Not tonight.""
Voss looked directly at me.
"Where is the flash drive?""
I said nothing.
He raised his weapon.
"Give it to me.""
Behind him, Sheriff Cole pulled a second weapon.
Then a voice came from the corridor behind us.
"Raymond?""
The sheriff turned.
A woman stood beneath the emergency lights.
Her hair was gray.
Her face was wet with tears.
I recognized her immediately.
My mother.
Margaret Mercer.
She looked at me.
Then at Jacob, standing behind the computer.
Her knees nearly buckled.
"Jacob?""
He stared at her.
For the first time in his life, he was looking at the woman who had given birth to him.
My mother took one step forward.
"I'm so sorry.""
Voss turned toward her.
"You're not supposed to be here.""
She looked at him.
Then she raised a small recording device.
"Maybe it's time everyone heard what you did.""
Voss's expression changed.
My mother pressed PLAY.
And his own voice filled the corridor.
"Forty-three families. Seven children tonight. No witnesses. No records.""
Sheriff Cole lowered his weapon slightly.
Voss turned toward him.
"Do something!""
But Raymond didn't move.
Instead, he looked at the recording device.
Then at my mother.
And whispered:
"You said you destroyed that.""
My mother shook her head.
"I kept everything.""
May you like
Voss raised his gun.
And the countdown reached three minutes.
