Chapter 14 - NINE SECONDSNine seconds.
That was all.
Delaney pressed RELEASE.
The laptop flashed red.
AUTHORIZED.
Then green.
UPLOADING.
Mason appeared in the doorway.
Blood covered his shoulder.
“Go!”
“Ronan?”
“Alive.”
“Where?”
“Two floors below.”
Delaney grabbed the laptop.
They ran.
Behind them, alarms erupted.
Not police alarms.
Sirens from dozens of vehicles.
The building shook.
Mason pointed.
“Stairs.”
They descended.
A gunman opened fire.
Mason returned fire.
Delaney reached the basement.
She found Ronan tied to a pipe.
She cut him loose.
“You okay?”
He hugged her.
“Go.”
They ran.
Then her father appeared.
Standing at the end of the corridor.
Alive.
Delaney stopped.
He stared at Ronan.
Then at her.
“I need you to leave.”
“You're coming with us.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“They'll kill you.”
“They're going to kill you too.”
He smiled.
“I know.”
He stepped toward them.
“I spent twelve years preparing for this.”
“What did you prepare?”
He handed her a key.
“Your mother's.”
Delaney looked confused.
“My mother?”
“She knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Everything.”
“No.”
“She helped build the first archive.”
Delaney stared.
Her mother had died believing her husband was dead.
Her father continued:
“She wasn't my victim.”
“She was my partner.”
Delaney's world shifted again.
“You're telling me my whole childhood was a lie.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
Footsteps sounded behind them.
Her father pushed them toward the exit.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
He looked back.
“I have one thing left to do.”
“What?”
“End it.”
He closed the door.
Delaney tried to reopen it.
Locked.
Ronan pulled her away.
“No!”
An explosion rocked the building.
The floor shook beneath them.
They ran outside.
Vehicles burned in the street.
Federal agents flooded the area.
Reporters arrived.
Helicopters circled overhead.
The archive was already spreading.
Phones buzzed.
Screens lit up.
Bank transfers.
Bribes.
Videos.
Photographs.
The entire system was being exposed in real time.
Delaney looked at the laptop.
The upload reached 97%.
98%.
99%.
Then 100%.
A message appeared.
ARCHIVE RELEASE COMPLETE.
She should have felt relief.
Instead, one final document opened automatically.
A photograph.
Her mother.
Her father.
Mason.
Vanessa.
And the old Quill.
Taken twenty-five years ago.
On the back was one sentence:
THE FIRST FOUR.
Delaney stared.
Four founders.
But there were supposed to be three.
The old Quill.
Her father.
Graham.
Who was the fourth?
Then Ronan whispered:
“Delaney.”
She turned.
He pointed toward the television inside a nearby news van.
Breaking news.
A reporter was speaking.
“Authorities have identified the apparent architect behind the newly uncovered corruption network.”
The screen showed a photograph.
Delaney froze.
It was not her father.
Not Quill.
Not Graham.
It was Vanessa Hale.
The reporter continued:
“Sources say Hale has been implicated in the creation of Project Echo.”
Delaney's face went cold.
“She did all this?”
Ronan shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the screen.
At the bottom of the photograph was a second image.
Vanessa's son, Tyler.
His face.
His eyes.
His fingerprints.
The reporter continued:
“And investigators are now searching for a missing teenager believed to hold the final encryption key.”
Delaney turned.
Tyler was gone.
Mason was gone too.
And from the laptop came one final message.
YOU RELEASED THE ARCHIVE.
BUT YOU RELEASED THE WRONG VERSION.
Delaney's blood ran cold.
May you like
The real archive was still locked.
And someone had copied it before she pressed the button.
