Chapter 14 - Fire in the Old Wing
By the time they returned to the city, smoke was pouring from the roof of the abandoned surgical wing.
Firefighters had contained most of it.
The blaze had started in the basement.
Exactly where Thomas said the archive was hidden.
Raymond stood behind the emergency perimeter.
“This wasn’t coincidence.”
Agent Reyes agreed.
Security cameras had failed eleven minutes before the fire.
An old loading entrance had been opened using an executive master credential.
Whose?
Raymond’s.
Again.
His access code had been copied.
Emily stared at the smoke.
“Can anything be recovered?”
A firefighter approached.
“The lower vault is fire-rated.”
Thomas exhaled.
“Claire planned for this.”
They waited three hours.
Near dawn, investigators entered the basement.
The archive survived.
Barely.
Servers had been damaged by heat and water.
But one encrypted storage unit remained intact.
Monica brought it to a forensic lab.
Then Agent Reyes walked toward Emily.
“We arrested someone leaving the old wing.”
“Who?”
Reyes looked almost disappointed by the answer.
“Preston.”
Emily’s heart stopped.
He had been released from hospital security restrictions under attorney supervision hours earlier.
Now investigators found him two blocks from an apparent evidence-destruction site.
Raymond cursed.
Emily said nothing.
Preston demanded to speak to her.
She refused twice.
The third time, he sent a message through his lawyer.
I WAS TRYING TO SAVE THE ARCHIVE.
Emily almost deleted it.
Then security footage surfaced.
A traffic camera showed Preston arriving before the fire.
Another showed a second vehicle.
Marcus Whitmore’s.
Emily agreed to see Preston with Agent Reyes present.
He looked exhausted.
“There’s a mole inside Saint Claire.”
Emily stared.
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“But believe the evidence.”
He slid a phone across the table.
A recording played.
Marcus’s voice.
“Destroy Claire’s archive tonight.”
Another man answered.
“Raymond’s credentials are ready.”
Emily did not recognize the voice.
Preston continued.
“I put a tracker on Marcus.”
“Why?”
“Because I finally understood my father wasn’t controlling everything.”
“You followed him?”
“Yes.”
“To the wing?”
“Yes.”
“Did you start the fire?”
“No.”
“Why run?”
“Because someone shot at me.”
Emily stared.
Agent Reyes confirmed they had found a bullet impact near Preston’s car.
No weapon on Preston.
Emily hated that the evidence supported him.
“Who was with Marcus?”
“I never saw his face.”
“Then what did you see?”
Preston leaned closer.
“A Saint Claire executive badge.”
Raymond’s company.
Emily thought of Eleanor.
But Eleanor had been hospitalized under guard since the attack.
Thomas was accounted for.
Monica had been with Emily.
Who remained?
Preston looked at Raymond.
“The man knew exactly where the archive was.”
Raymond’s face hardened.
“Only Claire, Thomas, and perhaps one other person would have known.”
Thomas went pale.
Emily turned.
“Who?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Your father.”
Emily froze.
“My father died when I was fourteen.”
Thomas shook his head slowly.
“No, Emily.”
Raymond closed his eyes.
Emily stared between them.
“What are you talking about?”
Thomas looked devastated.
“Claire told everyone your father died.”
“Because he did.”
“No.”
Raymond finally spoke.
“Your father disappeared.”
Emily felt the entire world shift again.
“She told you he died because she believed that was safer.”
Emily backed away.
“No.”
Thomas continued.
“His name was Andrew Mercer.”
Emily’s breathing quickened.
“He worked for Saint Claire security.”
“No.”
“He discovered Charles’s early operations.”
“No.”
“And then he vanished.”
Emily looked at Raymond.
“You knew?”
Raymond’s silence crushed her.
Before she could speak, Monica rushed into the room.
“The surviving archive decrypted.”
Everyone turned.
“There’s a video file.”
“From Claire?”
Monica shook her head.
“No.”
May you like
She stared at Emily.
“From your father.”
