Chapter 5 - The Sixth Name
Nobody moved.
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
Then Thomas.
Hale.
Three men stood beside her.
Voss could mean any of them.
Or he could be lying.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
Eleanor did not.
The doors opened onto a dim underground corridor.
Old hospital walls.
Abandoned research rooms.
Plastic sheeting.
Emergency lights.
“Voss!” Eleanor called.
His voice came through speakers.
“Aaron discovered our operation. But someone else reported him.”
“Who?”
“You brought him downstairs yourself.”
Daniel whispered, “He’s trying to split us.”
Eleanor knew.
Still, doubt had entered the elevator.
That was enough.
They moved.
Room after room was empty.
Then they found Nathan.
Strapped to a medical chair.
Alive.
Eleanor rushed forward.
“Wait,” Daniel warned.
She checked the room.
No visible trap.
She reached Nathan.
His pulse was weak.
“Where’s my mother?”
Nathan forced out a word.
“Safe.”
“What?”
“Escaped.”
Relief almost buckled Eleanor’s knees.
“How?”
“Your mother hit one of them with a lamp.”
Despite everything, Eleanor laughed once.
“That sounds like her.”
Nathan coughed.
“Voss downstairs.”
“This is the lowest floor.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Sublevel.”
Hale found a concealed stairwell.
Before they moved, Daniel cut Nathan free.
Thomas stayed with him.
Eleanor noticed Daniel watching Thomas.
Voss’s accusation had worked.
“Stop it,” she said.
“What?”
“You’re wondering.”
“So are you.”
“I’m wondering about everyone.”
Daniel’s expression darkened.
“Good.”
They descended.
The lower room looked nothing like an abandoned basement.
Modern servers.
Refrigerated storage.
Medical equipment.
Helix Meridian logos.
Seven years of secrets humming beneath a hospital.
Voss stood in the center.
No weapon.
“Eleanor.”
“Where is my mother?”
“Gone. One of my men underestimated her.”
“Family trait.”
Voss almost smiled.
Daniel aimed at him.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Voss obeyed.
“You’re making a mistake.”
Daniel said, “I hear that frequently.”
Voss looked at Eleanor.
“You think I’m the architect.”
“Aren’t you?”
“No.”
“You poisoned Aaron.”
“No.”
“You helped hide it.”
“Yes.”
The admission landed heavily.
Voss continued.
“I was a coward, not a killer.”
“That distinction probably matters more to you than to Aaron.”
His face tightened.
“I discovered what Helix was doing after Lantern. By then they had leverage.”
“What leverage?”
“My daughter.”
Eleanor stared.
“They threatened her.”
“So you helped bury twenty-three deaths?”
“I told myself I was preventing more.”
“You told yourself whatever let you sleep.”
“Yes.”
At least he did not argue.
“Who killed Aaron?”
Voss looked past her.
“I told you.”
Daniel’s finger tightened near the trigger.
“Name him.”
Voss said, “Thomas Vale.”
Silence.
Eleanor’s stomach dropped.
Thomas was upstairs with Nathan.
Daniel immediately turned toward the stairs.
A gunshot echoed above.
They ran.
Nathan’s chair was empty.
Blood marked the floor.
Thomas was gone.
Daniel swore.
Eleanor found a phone on the chair.
A message waited.
YOU ALWAYS SAVED THE WRONG MAN.
She looked at Daniel.
“Thomas.”
Daniel’s face had gone white.
Thomas Vale had been one of the five men who saluted her.
One of the men she had saved.
One of the men Aaron had trusted.
Voss climbed the stairs behind them.
“Thomas worked security for Helix before Lantern.”
Daniel spun.
“You knew?”
“Not until later.”
“He was on my team!”
“He was assigned to make sure the transfer survived.”
“The convoy?”
“The compound.”
Daniel looked physically ill.
Eleanor understood.
Thomas had not been protecting people.
He had been protecting cargo.
When Aaron discovered the truth, Thomas killed him.
Then Eleanor saved Thomas hours later.
The wrong man.
Nathan had been right.
“Where would he take Cole?” Eleanor asked.
Voss shook his head.
“He doesn’t need Cole anymore.”
“Then why take him?”
“He needs you.”
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
Voss continued.
“Aaron encrypted part of his evidence using biometric data from the medical officer assigned to Lantern.”
Eleanor stared.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew you.”
“What biometric data?”
“Voice pattern and pulse signature from the field medical system.”
Hale frowned.
“That’s absurdly elaborate.”
Voss said, “So was the program.”
Eleanor’s phone rang.
Thomas.
She answered.
“Where are you?”
“Remember the old helicopter pad, Captain?”
Her blood chilled.
“Thomas.”
“Bring Aaron’s card.”
“Where is Nathan?”
“With me.”
“Alive?”
“For now.”
“Why did you kill Aaron?”
Silence.
Then:
“Because he wouldn’t stop.”
“You could have walked away.”
“So could he.”
“You let me try to save him.”
“I needed witnesses to believe he died from his wounds.”
Eleanor’s voice dropped.
“You watched me blame myself.”
“That wasn’t part of the mission.”
“No. That was just convenient.”
Thomas sighed.
“Bring the card.”
“Why should I?”
“Because Cole isn’t my only guest.”
A second voice came over the phone.
“Ellie?”
Her mother.
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Thomas had recaptured her.
“I’m coming.”
“Alone.”
The call ended.
Daniel shook his head immediately.
“No.”
“He’ll kill them.”
“He’ll kill you.”
“Then make sure he doesn’t.”
Daniel stared at her.
A familiar command.
A familiar trust.
For the first time in seven years, Eleanor did not reject what she had once been.
“Captain?” Daniel asked quietly.
She met his eyes.
“Get the team.”
All four remaining men gathered.
Owen.
Lucas.
Marcus.
Daniel.
There should have been five.
The absence of Thomas stood between them.
Eleanor looked at each man.
“You saluted me tonight.”
Daniel nodded.
“I’m giving you one last order.”
Nobody spoke.
“Bring my patients home.”
Four heads nodded.
They moved.
At 4:37 a.m., Eleanor approached the abandoned rooftop helicopter pad of an old medical annex connected to St. Brigid’s.
Nathan was tied to a chair.
Her mother sat beside him.
Thomas stood behind them.
He held a gun.
“Stop there.”
Eleanor stopped.
“Card.”
She raised it.
“Let them go.”
“Unlock it first.”
“I need equipment.”
Thomas pointed toward a laptop.
Eleanor approached.
The screen requested voice verification.
She spoke the displayed phrase.
Accepted.
Then pulse.
She placed two fingers on the sensor.
The progress bar moved.
Thomas watched.
Ninety percent.
Ninety-five.
Eleanor looked at Nathan.
He was staring past Thomas.
At the rooftop access door.
It moved slightly.
Daniel.
Almost ready.
The screen reached ninety-nine percent.
Then displayed:
SECOND AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Thomas frowned.
“What?”
A name appeared.
AARON PIKE – DEADMAN AUTHORIZATION SUBSTITUTE.
Below it:
DESIGNATED WITNESS: NATHAN COLE.
Thomas looked at Nathan.
Then smiled.
“So that’s why you were still useful.”
He raised the gun toward Nathan.
May you like
Eleanor moved.
A shot cracked across the rooftop.
