Chapter 7 - Hammer woke on the floor.His ears rang.
Smoke filled the corridor.
Mara was beside him.
Ellie was gone.
Hammer grabbed her shoulder.
“Where's Ellie?”
Mara coughed.
“She was here.”
Hammer stood.
“ELLIE!”
No answer.
Panic punched through him harder than any bullet.
He searched the corridor.
Nothing.
Then he saw a red ribbon on the floor.
He picked it up.
Clara's voice echoed in his memory.
Red means memory.
Red means find me.
Hammer followed the ribbon.
It led to a hidden elevator.
The doors were open.
Inside was a security monitor.
On the screen, Ellie sat in a chair.
She wasn't crying.
She looked directly into the camera.
A voice spoke behind her.
“Ray Dawson.”
Hammer stepped closer.
“Let her go.”
“Why?”
“You want me.”
“We do.”
“Then take me.”
Ellie suddenly smiled.
Hammer noticed.
She wasn't afraid.
She was signaling him.
Her hand moved.
Three fingers.
Then two.
Then one.
Hammer understood.
There was someone beside her.
The camera shifted.
A woman stepped into view.
Hammer stopped breathing.
Long dark hair.
Pale face.
A scar near the temple.
Clara.
Alive.
For nine years Hammer had imagined her in dreams.
Now she stood less than twenty feet from Ellie.
Hammer pressed his hand against the monitor.
“Clara.”
She looked at him.
“Hello, Ray.”
His knees nearly failed.
Mara stared.
“That's my sister.”
Clara smiled sadly.
“Hello, Mara.”
Mara began crying.
“You're alive.”
“For a while.”
“What does that mean?”
Clara looked away.
“Nothing lasts forever.”
Hammer's voice hardened.
“Who has you?”
Clara looked directly into the camera.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“Then tell me the right one.”
“Who has the court?”
Hammer's eyes narrowed.
“Vale.”
Clara shook her head.
“Vale is only the face.”
“Who's behind him?”
Clara hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Daniel.”
Mara froze.
“My father?”
Clara nodded.
“He never died.”
Mara stumbled backward.
Hammer looked at her.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Your father has been alive this entire time?”
Clara looked at the camera.
“Yes.”
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
Daniel Voss.
Older.
Alive.
Standing beside Ellie.
But Ellie looked younger.
Four years old.
Hammer recognized the location.
Saint Mercy.
Then another image.
Daniel holding a red heart.
Then another.
Clara and Daniel arguing.
Then another.
Hammer's own face.
The scars were fresh.
The final image showed Hammer carrying baby Lucy away from the warehouse.
But someone had edited the photograph.
A second person had been standing behind him.
A figure without a shadow.
Hammer stared.
“The man without a shadow.”
Clara nodded.
“He is the one who betrayed me.”
“Who?”
Clara looked toward the camera.
“Your best friend.”
Hammer's face went blank.
He had only ever trusted one man completely.
His brother-in-arms.
Eddie Knox.
Eddie had been beside him the night Clara disappeared.
Eddie had testified that Hammer went into the warehouse alone.
Eddie had identified Hammer's body after the fire.
Eddie had helped him recover.
Eddie had visited him every week in prison.
Hammer whispered:
“Eddie.”
Clara looked away.
“Yes.”
Hammer's jaw clenched.
“No.”
“He sold us.”
“Why?”
“To protect his son.”
Hammer's eyes narrowed.
“Eddie doesn't have a son.”
Clara looked directly at him.
“He does.”
She paused.
“And you've met him.”
The screen went black.
Hammer stood motionless.
Then he heard a sound behind him.
A phone ringing.
Mara answered.
She listened.
Her face became terrified.
“Ray.”
“What?”
“It’s the courthouse.”
“What about it?”
“The judge has resumed the trial.”
“How?”
“It’s empty.”
Hammer frowned.
“Empty?”
Mara nodded.
“Except for one person.”
Hammer's stomach dropped.
“Who?”
Mara whispered:
“Ellie's foster mother.”
They rushed back toward the tunnel exit.
When they emerged onto the street, police cars surrounded the courthouse.
Reporters crowded behind barricades.
On the courthouse steps stood Rachel Ward.
She held a red heart in one hand.
And she was smiling.
A microphone was pushed toward her.
Rachel looked straight into the cameras.
“My daughter has been manipulated by Ray Dawson.”
Hammer stopped.
Rachel continued.
“And now I am prepared to reveal exactly what he did to her.”
Hammer stared at the courthouse.
Then at the red heart.
Clara's voice still echoed in his mind.
Your best friend.
Hammer pulled out his phone.
He called Eddie.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Eddie answered.
“Ray?”
Hammer whispered:
“Where are you?”
Silence.
Then Eddie said:
“Looking for you.”
Hammer closed his eyes.
“Why?”
May you like
Eddie breathed heavily.
“Because they just found my son.”
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