Chapter 2 - The Man in the Smoke
"Evelyn Mercer."
The voice came from behind the emergency doors.
Marcus stepped between Evelyn and the corridor.
"Identify yourself."
No answer.
Charles stood several feet behind them with Margaret.
For once, he did exactly as his daughter had instructed.
Evelyn raised one hand.
"Marcus."
He understood.
Wait.
Emergency lights painted the corridor in dim red.
A man emerged.
His hands were visible.
Hotel uniform.
Gray hair.
Blood along one side of his face.
Marcus recognized him first.
"Building engineer."
The man stumbled.
"They're downstairs."
Evelyn caught his shoulder.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"How many?"
"Three. Maybe four."
"Where?"
"Utility control room."
Evelyn looked at Marcus.
The explosion had not been designed simply to hurt gala guests.
It had created confusion while someone entered the building.
"What do they want?" Charles asked.
Evelyn ignored him.
"Did they touch the electrical system?"
The engineer nodded.
"And the building network."
That mattered more.
The Halston Crown was hosting more than wealthy donors tonight.
Three cabinet-level officials were upstairs in private meetings.
Two foreign economic delegations occupied secure suites.
And beneath the hotel ran communications infrastructure tied to several emergency-response networks.
The gala had provided perfect camouflage.
Evelyn turned to Marcus.
"Get federal response on the secure channel."
"Already trying."
"Trying?"
"They're jamming us."
Charles stepped forward.
"Tell me what's happening."
Evelyn finally looked at him.
"I can't."
"I'm your father."
"Tonight that doesn't give you clearance."
The sentence landed harder than his joke from the podium.
Charles opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
Evelyn moved toward the interior hallway.
Margaret caught her hand.
"Please."
Evelyn turned.
Her mother's fear was different from Charles's.
It contained no wounded pride.
Only love.
"I'll come back."
"You promise?"
Evelyn paused.
"I'll do everything I can."
She joined Marcus.
Charles watched his daughter disappear through the emergency doors.
For years, he had imagined her behind a desk.
Now trained security personnel moved when she moved.
They descended one level using the service stairs.
Marcus whispered, "Two minutes until tactical response reaches the east entrance."
"If communications stay blocked, they'll enter blind."
"Exactly."
Evelyn studied the access card.
"Whoever planted this understands SCD protocols."
"Inside leak?"
"Possibly."
They reached the utility level.
A faint electronic alarm sounded.
Marcus checked the first corner.
Clear.
Evelyn saw an abandoned equipment bag.
Inside were cable cutters and a cloned hotel credential.
Professional.
But something else bothered her.
The intruders had not killed the engineer.
They had allowed him to escape.
Why?
"Marcus."
"Yeah?"
"They wanted him upstairs."
He understood immediately.
"To deliver the warning."
"Or move us."
Evelyn looked back toward the stairs.
The gala.
Her family.
She touched her earpiece.
"Security One, status ballroom."
Static.
"Security One?"
Nothing.
Marcus tried his.
Dead.
Evelyn ran.
They took the stairs two at a time.
When they reached the ballroom level, guests were still inside the protected corridor.
No attack.
No obvious threat.
Charles saw Evelyn return.
"What?"
She scanned the room.
Then she understood.
The intruders had never wanted the guests.
They wanted something Charles had brought with him.
"Where is your briefcase?"
Charles frowned.
"What?"
"The leather case you had when you arrived."
"In my private suite."
"What's inside?"
"Business documents."
"What kind?"
"Acquisition files."
"Charles."
He stiffened at hearing his first name.
"What is inside?"
His face changed.
Evelyn noticed.
"Tell me."
Charles lowered his voice.
"Mercer Capital recently acquired a controlling interest in Ardent Systems."
Evelyn went still.
Ardent Systems.
The name was familiar.
Too familiar.
"They manage infrastructure software."
"Among other things."
"What other things?"
"I don't know."
"You bought the company."
"I buy companies. I don't personally inspect every contract."
Evelyn stared at him.
"Where's the briefcase?"
"Suite 1704."
Marcus swore quietly.
The elevators were disabled.
Evelyn started toward the stairs.
Charles followed.
"No."
"Those documents belong to me."
"And someone just blew out a ballroom window to get near them."
"Which is precisely why I'm coming."
Evelyn turned.
"You spent twelve years telling me I chose the wrong life. Tonight, for once, trust that I know mine."
Charles stopped.
The words hurt.
They were supposed to.
Evelyn and Marcus climbed.
On the seventeenth floor, the hallway was empty.
Suite 1704 stood at the far end.
The door was closed.
Marcus checked the lock.
No forced entry.
Charles's electronic key was required.
Evelyn had taken it from him downstairs.
She tapped the reader.
Green.
Marcus drew a compact defensive weapon from beneath his jacket.
Evelyn pushed the door open.
The suite was empty.
Charles's briefcase sat on the desk.
Untouched.
Evelyn approached carefully.
Marcus inspected the room.
"Clear."
She opened the briefcase.
Contracts.
Financial reports.
Acquisition documents.
Then she saw an envelope.
It did not belong.
No address.
No stamp.
Only her name.
EVELYN.
Marcus saw it.
"Don't touch it."
Evelyn put on gloves.
She opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Evelyn entering a government facility three years earlier.
Taken from a distance.
Someone had been watching her.
On the back was a date.
Tonight's date.
Below it:
YOUR FATHER BOUGHT SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO US.
Marcus stared.
"What exactly did Mercer Capital acquire?"
Evelyn turned toward the acquisition file.
She opened it.
Ardent Systems possessed dozens of subsidiaries.
One caught her attention.
Sentinel Data Recovery.
Her pulse jumped.
She knew that name.
Six years ago, Evelyn had participated in a classified operation involving a compromised emergency communications network.
Sentinel had been one of the contractors investigated.
The case had disappeared after evidence vanished.
Two officers had lost their careers.
One had disappeared.
And Evelyn had been ordered never to discuss it again.
Marcus saw her face.
"What?"
"This isn't about tonight."
"What is it about?"
"Something from six years ago."
A sound came from the bedroom.
Both turned.
Marcus moved first.
The bedroom was empty.
But the balcony door stood open.
Curtains moved in the wind.
Evelyn approached.
A small black device sat on the balcony table.
A phone.
Its screen illuminated.
One incoming video.
Evelyn pressed play.
A man appeared.
Only half his face was visible.
His voice had been digitally distorted.
"Colonel Mercer, your father believes he bought a technology company."
Evelyn said nothing.
"He didn't."
The video shifted.
A schematic appeared.
Evelyn recognized it immediately.
Her stomach dropped.
It was a restricted continuity network architecture.
The stranger continued.
"He bought the only surviving key to a system your government buried six years ago."
Marcus leaned closer.
The video ended.
Then another message appeared.
A location.
Hotel basement.
And four words:
COME ALONE OR HE DIES.
Evelyn stared at the screen.
Marcus whispered, "Who's 'he'?"
Before she could answer, the phone displayed a live image.
May you like
Charles Mercer was sitting alone in a dark room.
Someone stood behind his chair.
