Chapter 9 - THE FINAL BENEFICIARYThey moved deeper into the tunnel.
The walls were covered in old brick.
At intervals, small cameras watched them pass.
Marcus whispered:
“They're still monitoring us.”
Davis looked at Julian.
“You have an explanation for this?”
Julian didn't answer.
Claire turned.
“What did my father use this tunnel for?”
“Transport.”
“Transport of what?”
“People.”
Emily stiffened.
“How many?”
Julian stared into the darkness.
“I don't know.”
Claire felt sick.
Marcus asked:
“Trafficking?”
Julian nodded.
“Not strangers.”
“Then who?”
Julian said:
“Witnesses.”
The tunnel opened into a large underground chamber.
There were shelves.
Computers.
Documents.
Boxes.
A generator.
And dozens of passports.
Davis stared.
“This is an underground operation.”
Claire found a folder.
Inside were names.
Judges.
Bankers.
Investigators.
Business owners.
One page contained a list of payments.
At the bottom:
NATHAN CROSS. STATUS: ALIVE.
Claire looked up.
“He's alive.”
Julian nodded.
“That's what Victor was afraid of.”
Marcus asked:
“Where is he?”
Julian pointed to a monitor.
The screen showed a live video.
An elderly man sat in a chair.
Claire recognized him immediately.
Nathan.
Her biological father.
Claire stepped toward the screen.
“Nathan?”
The man lifted his head.
For a second, he stared directly into the camera.
Then he spoke.
“Claire.”
She stopped.
“How do you know my name?”
Nathan smiled sadly.
“I chose it.”
Claire couldn't breathe.
“You knew me.”
“I watched you grow.”
“You watched?”
“I had no choice.”
“Why?”
Nathan looked exhausted.
“Because Victor promised me he would kill you if I ever returned.”
Claire pressed a hand against the monitor.
“Why didn't you come for me?”
Nathan's voice broke.
“Because I was afraid I would make things worse.”
Marcus asked:
“Where are you?”
Nathan looked behind him.
“I don't know.”
“What do you mean?”
“They move me.”
“Who?”
Nathan didn't answer.
Suddenly the camera shook.
Someone entered the room behind him.
Nathan looked toward the person.
His expression turned terrified.
“Claire, listen to me.”
“What?”
“The key.”
Claire held up the silver key.
Nathan's eyes widened.
“You have it.”
“Yes.”
“Then you have the account.”
“What account?”
Nathan whispered:
“The one Victor spent twenty years trying to find.”
Julian suddenly looked at Claire.
“What does he mean?”
Nathan continued.
“Your mother hid it.”
Claire frowned.
“Where?”
Nathan's voice dropped.
“Inside you.”
Silence.
Claire stared.
“What?”
“The account isn't a bank account.”
Nathan's breathing became faster.
“It is a record.”
“What record?”
“The identities of everyone involved.”
Davis asked:
“Stored where?”
Nathan looked directly into the camera.
“Inside the last person they would ever search.”
Claire suddenly understood.
Her mother had always kept a silver locket around her neck.
It had disappeared after her death.
The locket had been given to Claire when she was eighteen.
Claire pulled the chain from beneath her shirt.
The locket was still there.
Marcus stared.
“Open it.”
Claire turned it over.
A tiny keyhole appeared.
The silver key fit perfectly.
She inserted it.
Click.
The locket opened.
Inside was not a photograph.
It was a tiny memory card.
And beneath it, engraved inside the metal:
WHEN CLAIRE OPENS THIS, EVERYONE DIES.
Emily whispered:
“What does that mean?”
Julian's face went pale.
“It means the locket is a dead man's switch.”
Davis frowned.
“Explain.”
Julian looked at Claire.
“If that card is removed…”
A deep mechanical sound echoed through the chamber.
Then the generator shut down.
Every light went red.
A computer activated by itself.
A countdown appeared.
10:00
09:59
09:58
Marcus stared.
“What did you trigger?”
May you like
Julian whispered:
“The purge.”
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