Chapter 8 - The Night Claire Disappeared
Claire had lied again.
Not about surviving.
About why she disappeared.
After the explosion, she hadn't simply hidden.
She had made a deal.
With Kessler.
Elena felt sick.
"You worked for him?"
"For eleven months."
Vale looked devastated.
Claire explained she had stayed inside Kessler's organization to protect Elena and Mercer.
She fed him false information.
Destroyed records.
Moved surviving victims.
But one decision haunted her.
She had allowed Kessler to believe Margaret was dead.
Margaret stared at her.
"You knew I survived."
Claire nodded.
"And you never contacted me."
"If Kessler saw us together—"
"Stop using protection as an excuse for abandonment."
Elena almost laughed.
Exactly what she'd told them all.
The archive transmission created national consequences.
Investigations began immediately.
Names surfaced.
Companies panicked.
Officials denied involvement.
Kessler remained in custody.
But someone else had initiated the transmission.
The message to Elena came from inside the Harbor Light network.
Rourke traced it.
"There's another administrator."
"Who?" Vale asked.
Rourke shook his head.
"Code name only."
WARDEN.
Elena stared.
"Find Warden."
The trail led back to the original Harbor Light facility.
Or what remained beneath it.
They discovered an underground server room.
Someone had maintained it for decades.
On a desk sat photographs of Elena.
Mercer.
Vale.
Claire.
Margaret.
Every one taken secretly.
Then Elena found a photograph of the training yard.
Taken the morning she was shoved.
Someone had been there before the incident.
Watching.
"This wasn't coincidence," she whispered.
Mercer looked sick.
"Then was I manipulated?"
Rourke examined the records.
Mercer had received anonymous complaints about Elena for weeks.
Messages questioning her competence.
Rumors designed to make him angry.
Someone had pushed Mercer psychologically until he pushed Elena physically.
Warden had engineered the confrontation.
"But why?" Mercer asked.
"To expose the scar," Elena said.
A monitor switched on.
A figure appeared.
Face hidden.
Voice altered.
"Correct."
Elena stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
"Someone Claire left behind."
Claire went pale.
"No."
The figure continued.
"Tell her, Claire."
Elena looked at her mother.
Claire whispered a name.
"Rebecca."
The monitor went dark.
Vale asked, "Who's Rebecca?"
Claire looked at Elena.
"My sister."
Elena stared.
"I have an aunt?"
Claire shook her head.
"Had."
Elena almost laughed.
"Let me guess. Dead."
Claire didn't answer.
That was enough.
A door opened somewhere beneath them.
Footsteps approached.
Then a woman's voice called through the corridor.
"Still telling everyone I'm dead, Claire?"
Claire froze.
Elena turned.
A woman stepped into the light.
May you like
She looked directly at Elena.
"Hello, niece."
