Chapter 11 - The Red Ledger contained 214 names.Politicians.
Judges.
Doctors.
Police officers.
Bankers.
Private security executives.
Even several members of the court.
But one name appeared on nearly every page.
Daniel Voss.
Mara stared at it.
“My father.”
Clara nodded.
“He built the system.”
Hammer looked at Mara.
“And Vale?”
“His partner.”
“What about Rachel Ward?”
Clara went silent.
Hammer noticed.
“What aren't you telling me?”
Clara took a breath.
“Rachel betrayed us.”
Ellie stepped forward.
“No.”
Clara looked at her.
“Ellie...”
“She saved me.”
“Because she was paid.”
“No.”
“She was.”
Ellie shook her head.
“She cried.”
Clara froze.
“What?”
“When they took me.”
Ellie's voice trembled.
“She told them she would rather die.”
Clara looked stunned.
“Who told you that?”
“Rachel.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“She survived?”
Ellie nodded.
Hammer looked between them.
“What happened to Rachel?”
A car screeched outside.
Clara turned.
“She's coming.”
Mara frowned.
“Why?”
Clara grabbed the ledger.
“Because Rachel has the second half.”
“Second half of what?”
“The evidence.”
Hammer understood.
“The Red Ledger is incomplete.”
Clara nodded.
“Half the names are financial.”
“And the other half?”
“Birth records.”
Mara stared.
“They were selling identities.”
Clara nodded.
“Children weren't the product.”
Hammer frowned.
“Then what was?”
“Access.”
Clara opened the second compartment in the ledger.
Inside were photographs.
Children standing beside wealthy families.
Each child had a different name.
Hammer recognized one.
A famous senator's daughter.
The official records said she had died at age six.
But the photograph showed her alive at sixteen.
Hammer stared.
“They replaced dead children.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because some families needed heirs.”
Hammer's face hardened.
“They were creating fake heirs.”
Clara nodded.
“Children were selected because of appearance, blood type, inherited traits.”
Mara whispered:
“Genetic replacement.”
Clara nodded.
Hammer looked at Ellie.
“And Lucy?”
“She was different.”
“Why?”
“Because she wasn't selected.”
Clara opened another page.
Lucy Bell.
Below it:
BIOLOGICAL KEY.
Hammer frowned.
“What is that?”
Clara looked at Ellie.
“She can identify every original identity.”
Hammer stared.
“How?”
“Her memory.”
Ellie looked confused.
Clara continued.
“Lucy was present when they created the first transfer records.”
“She was a baby.”
“They used her mother.”
Clara placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Clara holding Ellie as a newborn.
Behind them was a machine.
“What is that?”
“A neural recording device.”
Hammer's eyes narrowed.
“They recorded memories.”
“Not just memories.”
Clara pointed at Ellie.
“They recorded her mother's voice.”
Hammer stared.
“Why?”
“So Lucy could identify it later.”
Mara's face went pale.
“That means Ellie is a living key.”
Clara nodded.
“And that's why they keep trying to get her back.”
A loud bang shook the door.
Hammer grabbed his weapon.
Rachel Ward entered.
She wasn't smiling.
She was holding a gun.
Everyone froze.
Rachel looked at Clara.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Clara raised both hands.
“Rachel.”
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
“You don't know what I gave up.”
Clara whispered:
“I know.”
“No.”
Rachel pointed the gun toward Ellie.
“I lost everything.”
Hammer stepped between them.
“Lower it.”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“You still protect her.”
“Yes.”
“You always did.”
Hammer frowned.
“How do you know me?”
Rachel stared at him.
“Because Clara told me everything.”
Hammer's expression changed.
“You knew me before the warehouse.”
Rachel nodded.
“You weren't just her friend.”
Hammer turned toward Clara.
“What was I?”
Clara couldn't answer.
Rachel did.
“You were Lucy's father.”
Silence.
Hammer stared at Clara.
She closed her eyes.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“When it was safe.”
“There was never a safe.”
“I know.”
Ellie stared at Hammer.
“My dad?”
Hammer couldn't speak.
Rachel lowered the gun.
Then someone shot through the window.
The bullet struck Rachel in the chest.
She collapsed.
Ellie screamed.
Hammer caught her.
Clara rushed to Rachel.
Rachel grabbed her hand.
“Don't let them take her.”
Clara cried.
“I won't.”
Rachel looked at Hammer.
“Your daughter.”
Hammer knelt.
Rachel whispered:
“They'll use her blood to open the final archive.”
“Where?”
Rachel coughed.
“Below Saint Mercy.”
“It's gone.”
“No.”
She smiled weakly.
“It's underneath you.”
Her eyes closed.
Clara screamed her name.
Hammer looked at Ellie.
Then at the floor.
A hidden alarm began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Then every phone in the room received the same message.
May you like
THE ARCHIVE OPENS IN 60 MINUTES.
HAMMER DAWSON MUST BE PRESENT.
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