Chapter 13 - The vault doors opened.Inside was a chamber filled with servers, documents, hard drives, photographs, and thousands of sealed envelopes.
The Red Archive.
Hammer entered with Ellie.
Clara followed.
Mara stood behind them.
Daniel's guards flooded the corridor.
Hammer fired twice.
One guard fell.
Another retreated.
Clara pointed toward the central terminal.
“That's the core.”
Hammer looked at Ellie.
“What does she do?”
“She's the key.”
Ellie approached the terminal.
A screen lit up.
DNA verification required.
Hammer stepped forward.
The machine scanned him.
ACCESS GRANTED.
Mara stared.
“Your blood.”
Hammer nodded.
Then another screen appeared.
SECOND KEY REQUIRED.
Ellie placed her hand against the glass.
The system scanned her.
ACCESS GRANTED.
The vault unlocked completely.
Files began downloading automatically.
Mara stared.
“This is everything.”
Names.
Transactions.
Photographs.
Videos.
Birth records.
False death certificates.
Fake adoptions.
Court orders.
Police reports.
Everything.
Hammer looked toward Daniel.
Daniel stood at the doorway.
For the first time, he looked frightened.
“Stop.”
Hammer laughed.
“No.”
Daniel raised his weapon.
Clara stepped in front of Hammer.
Daniel fired.
Hammer moved first.
The bullet hit the metal frame.
Clara tackled Daniel.
They crashed into the floor.
Mara began copying files.
Ellie stood frozen.
Then a voice spoke behind her.
“Lucy.”
She turned.
A little boy stood in the archive.
Eddie's son.
Hammer saw him.
“Get down!”
The boy ran.
Hammer grabbed him.
“Are you hurt?”
The boy shook his head.
“They told me you were the bad man.”
Hammer smiled.
“They told you a lot of things.”
The boy looked at Ellie.
“She told me to find you.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
Hammer looked toward Clara.
She was struggling with Daniel.
Daniel whispered something into her ear.
Clara suddenly froze.
Then she looked at Hammer.
“Ray.”
He turned.
“Get Ellie out.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
Hammer heard something.
A clicking sound.
Explosives.
Daniel had activated the emergency destruction system.
Mara looked at the flashing lights.
“Oh God.”
Clara pushed Daniel away.
“The archive is rigged.”
Hammer grabbed Ellie.
Mara took the boy.
They ran.
But Clara stopped.
Hammer turned.
“Come on!”
She shook her head.
“I can't.”
“What?”
“I have to finish it.”
“No.”
“Ray, listen.”
She pointed toward the servers.
“If they destroy the archive, it starts again.”
Hammer stepped back.
“I won't leave you.”
Clara smiled.
“You already did once.”
The words shattered him.
Then she touched the red heart.
“Remember me.”
Hammer wanted to move.
Couldn't.
Clara pressed a button.
The archive doors began closing.
Hammer screamed.
“CLARA!”
The doors slammed shut.
The explosion came seconds later.
Hammer, Ellie, Mara, and the boy were thrown down the corridor.
Fire rolled through the ceiling.
Hammer crawled toward the vault.
“No.”
Mara grabbed him.
“Ray!”
He pushed her away.
“She's in there!”
The vault doors remained closed.
Then the floor beneath them cracked.
A hidden passage opened.
Hammer looked down.
A ladder.
Mara screamed:
“There!”
They climbed.
Behind them, Saint Mercy began collapsing.
They reached the surface.
Police sirens filled the air.
Dozens of vehicles surrounded the hospital.
Hammer looked at the sky.
Smoke rose behind them.
Then someone shouted:
“Hands where we can see them!”
Hammer froze.
Police aimed weapons.
Mara stepped forward.
“Don't shoot.”
An officer shouted:
“Ray Dawson, you are under arrest.”
Hammer stared.
“For what?”
The officer held up a warrant.
“Conspiracy.”
Hammer laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Then the police chief stepped forward.
Hammer recognized him.
One of the names from the ledger.
The chief pointed directly at Ellie.
“Take the girl.”
Hammer moved in front of her.
“No.”
The chief smiled.
“You don't understand.”
He held up a phone.
A video was playing.
Clara.
Alive.
She sat in a chair.
Blood on her face.
The chief smiled.
“She survived the explosion.”
Hammer stared.
“Where?”
The chief whispered:
“Inside the courthouse.”
Hammer's face hardened.
The chief continued:
“And she wants you to come alone.”
Hammer looked at Ellie.
She was holding the little red heart.
It was no longer glowing.
It was blinking.
Three times.
Pause.
Three times.
Hammer understood.
Clara wasn't sending a normal message.
May you like
She was signaling.
SOS.
