Chapter 6 - Bring Rook Home
Daniel stared at the photograph.
"He's baiting us."
"He's holding Helen."
"He wants Rook."
"Why?"
Mercer answered.
"Because Rook remembers locations."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Military dogs can be trained for route memory. Daniel and Shaw used Rook to move between safe sites without electronic navigation."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"There was one site Rook knew that wasn't on any map."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"You trained him."
"Shaw did."
That explained the German commands.
Rook wasn't merely evidence.
He was a key.
We returned to Pine Ridge after dark.
No police.
No employees.
The clinic lights were on.
Rook walked beside me.
Daniel and Brock entered through the rear.
Mercer remained outside.
I entered through the front.
Dr. Price sat in the center of the lobby.
Hands bound.
David Shaw stood behind her.
Older than the photograph.
Scar near his jaw.
Gun in his hand.
"Hello, Maya."
"Let her go."
"Rook first."
The dog stared at him.
Shaw smiled.
"Hello, old friend."
Rook growled.
Shaw's smile faded.
"Apparently you remember."
I unclipped the leash.
Rook remained beside me.
Shaw gave a German command.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Then I whispered:
"Zuhause."
Home.
Rook turned.
He walked toward Exam Room Three.
Shaw's expression changed.
"Interesting."
Rook scratched the wall.
Daniel entered behind us.
"Drop the gun, David."
Shaw laughed.
"Still dramatic."
"You destroyed my team."
"I saved your team."
"You sold us."
"I sold information. Different thing."
Daniel's weapon remained steady.
"Let Helen go."
Shaw pushed Dr. Price forward.
She stumbled toward me.
Brock appeared from the opposite hallway.
Shaw was surrounded.
Yet he didn't look afraid.
"You still don't understand."
"Then explain," I said.
He looked at me.
"Orpheus was dying. Politicians wanted it closed. Contractors wanted its data. Vale wanted to preserve it. Mercer wanted to expose it. Your brother wanted to burn everything."
"And you?"
"I wanted control."
"Why use my identity?"
"Because nobody audits a civilian sister."
Daniel's face hardened.
"You put her in danger."
"I kept her alive."
"You call this alive?"
Shaw shrugged.
"You were supposed to die at Black Harbor."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Who ordered it?"
Shaw smiled.
"Nobody."
Silence.
"I did."
Daniel's finger tightened near the trigger.
Shaw continued.
"You found the accounts. I couldn't risk exposure."
"And Romania?"
"Also me."
Brock looked stunned.
"You tracked us?"
"Every mile."
"Then why didn't you kill Daniel?"
"Because Daniel was useful."
Shaw looked at Rook.
"The dog was more useful."
Rook scratched the wall again.
Shaw said, "Open it."
I didn't move.
"Open it, Maya."
Daniel nodded.
Brock removed a wall panel.
Behind it was a steel compartment.
Inside sat a weatherproof case.
Shaw breathed out.
"There you are."
Daniel opened it.
Hard drives.
Documents.
Old photographs.
One sealed envelope.
FOR MAYA.
My handwriting?
No.
My mother's.
I froze.
Our mother had died when I was sixteen.
Daniel saw it too.
"That's Mom's writing."
Shaw laughed softly.
"Now you understand why Orpheus existed."
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Maya,
If Daniel ever gives you this, the protection failed.
I stopped.
Daniel whispered, "Keep reading."
Our mother had worked as a civilian analyst.
She helped design Orpheus.
Not the corrupted version.
The original.
A system meant to rescue families.
When she discovered it was being abused, she copied its financial backbone and hid it.
Years later Shaw discovered the evidence existed.
He assumed Daniel had it.
Daniel didn't.
Rook did.
The case had been hidden at Pine Ridge long before I worked there.
Our mother had chosen the clinic because Dr. Price had been her friend.
I looked at Helen.
She was crying.
"You knew my mother?"
"She saved my life."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"She made me promise."
Shaw sighed.
"Promises. Everyone loves them until they become inconvenient."
Daniel looked through the drives.
"This is everything."
"Yes."
"Then you're finished."
Shaw smiled.
"No."
A red light blinked beneath the reception desk.
Brock saw it.
"Bomb."
Shaw ran.
Daniel tackled him.
Brock grabbed Helen.
I grabbed the case.
Rook barked and sprinted toward the rear exit.
We followed.
The explosion shattered the clinic windows.
Heat threw us onto the parking lot.
For several seconds I heard nothing.
Then Rook was licking my face.
Daniel was alive.
Brock was alive.
Helen was alive.
Shaw crawled toward a dropped gun.
Mercer stepped from behind a vehicle and kicked it away.
"It's over, David."
Shaw laughed.
"You think I'm Orpheus?"
Mercer stared down.
"You corrupted it."
"I monetized it."
"Same thing."
Shaw looked at Daniel.
Then me.
"You still haven't opened the final drive."
Daniel frowned.
"What final drive?"
"The one Elena Calder died protecting."
My stomach tightened.
"Our mother died of cancer."
Shaw smiled through blood.
"No."
Daniel went completely still.
"David."
"Tell her."
"Tell me what?"
Shaw looked directly at me.
"Your mother wasn't sick."
I couldn't breathe.
"She was poisoned."
Daniel grabbed Shaw by the collar.
"By who?"
Shaw laughed.
"You've been standing beside him all night."
Every eye turned.
Toward Brock.
Then Mercer.
Then Helen.
May you like
Shaw smiled.
"The person who killed Elena Calder is right here."
