Chapter 12 - THE LAST RECORDINGFor a moment, Daniel couldn't breathe.
Chief Martin stood beneath the emergency lights.
Weapon raised.
Chief Martin.
His mentor.
The man who had promoted him.
The man who had signed Rex's certification.
The man Daniel had trusted for years.
Nathan was on the floor.
Sarah knelt beside him.
Eli was crying.
Rex stood between the boy and everyone else.
Martin's voice remained calm.
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“Put the gun down.”
“You don't understand.”
“You shot Nathan.”
“He was going to destroy everything.”
“What everything?”
“The system.”
Daniel took one step forward.
Martin's finger tightened around the trigger.
“Don't.”
Eli whispered:
“Sir?”
Martin looked at him.
“You've caused enough trouble.”
Rex growled.
Martin's eyes narrowed.
“Control the dog.”
Daniel didn't move.
“Rex doesn't take orders from you.”
Martin smiled.
“He used to.”
Daniel's mind raced.
Used to?
Then he remembered.
Rex had been trained at the airport six years ago.
Who had authorized the program?
Martin.
Nathan suddenly grabbed Daniel's ankle.
“Server 7,” he whispered.
Then his eyes closed.
Daniel looked at him.
“Don't die on me.”
Nathan managed a faint smile.
“I left you the recording.”
“What recording?”
Nathan pointed weakly at Rex's collar.
Daniel touched the collar.
A tiny hidden storage unit was attached beneath the metal tag.
Nathan had hidden it there.
Martin saw it.
“Take it off.”
Daniel pulled Rex back.
“No.”
Martin fired.
The bullet struck the floor.
Rex barked.
The terminal lights exploded into darkness.
Daniel moved.
Two shots.
A scream.
Then silence.
Emergency lights returned.
Martin was gone.
So was Vale.
But the storage unit remained in Daniel's hand.
He inserted it into a nearby terminal.
A file appeared.
RECORDING 001.
Nathan appeared on screen.
“This message is for Daniel Brooks.”
Daniel watched.
“If you've found this, the system has activated.”
Nathan breathed heavily.
“Eli's memory is not the key to controlling it.”
Daniel frowned.
“It's the key to exposing it.”
Sarah stared at the screen.
Nathan continued.
“The system doesn't predict criminals.”
“It identifies people who know the truth.”
Daniel felt a chill.
The network had been used to monitor witnesses.
Journalists.
Investigators.
Whistleblowers.
Children.
Anyone who discovered the hidden operation became a target.
Nathan continued.
“Chief Martin knows.”
Daniel looked at Sarah.
“Where's Martin going?”
“To the main server.”
The recording changed.
A map appeared.
The central server was located beneath the terminal runway.
Nathan's voice returned.
“Burning the system won't destroy the evidence.”
Daniel stared.
“So what will?”
Nathan looked directly at the camera.
“You need the boy.”
Daniel looked at Eli.
Nathan continued.
“Eli memorized the evacuation code because his mother taught it to him as a game.”
A pause.
“He doesn't know what it means.”
“He only knows what sequence to enter.”
Daniel suddenly understood.
The code could open every archived record at once.
If they could reach the central server.
But there was one problem.
The recording ended with Nathan's final words:
“Daniel, when you enter the server room, don't trust the first person you see.”
The screen went black.
Daniel looked at the corridor.
Someone was standing at the far end.
A woman.
Eli's mother.
Alive.
She raised her hand.
“Daniel?”
Eli screamed.
“That isn't my mom!”
May you like
The woman smiled.
And Rex charged.
