Marcus looked up.
“What did you do?”
Helen's face went pale.
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
She looked toward the closed door.
“Because whoever sent it knew something about my past.”
Marcus studied her.
“Tell me.”
Helen shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Where?”
She looked at him.
“Tonight.”
“Where?”
“Old Harbor Station.”
Marcus frowned.
“Why there?”
“Because that's where this started.”
She walked away.
Marcus remained standing in the empty conference room.
Old Harbor Station had been abandoned for twenty years.
It was the place where Reed Systems had signed its first major government contract.
It was also the place where Marcus had first met Helen Crawford.
Something was buried there.
And Marcus had a feeling someone was about to dig it up.
Chapter 6
Rain covered Old Harbor Station when Marcus arrived.
The abandoned terminal looked nothing like the polished Meridian Crown.
Its windows were cracked.
Its walls were stained.
Weeds grew between the tracks.
A single yellow light flickered above the entrance.
Marcus checked his watch.
11:58 p.m.
Helen was late.
He waited.
Midnight came.
Then 12:05.
12:10.
Marcus called her.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
A sound came from inside the station.
Marcus turned.
“Hello?”
No response.
He entered.
His shoes echoed across the empty platform.
“Ms. Crawford?”
A door slammed somewhere in the darkness.
Marcus stopped.
He reached for his phone.
Then a voice came from behind him.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Marcus turned.
A man stood several feet away.
He wore a dark coat.
His face was partially hidden.
Marcus recognized him.
“Victor.”
Victor Hale smiled.
“You're harder to scare than I expected.”
Marcus stared at him.
“Where is Helen?”
Victor didn't answer.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
Marcus took a step forward.
“You threatened my company.”
Victor laughed.
“Your company?”
“You know what I mean.”
Victor's expression changed.
“You still think this is about your company.”
“Then what is it about?”
Victor looked around the station.
“Twenty years ago, you came here with nothing.”
Marcus said nothing.
“You had one idea.”
Victor continued.
“One contract.”
“One chance.”
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“How do you know that?”
Victor smiled.
“Because I was there.”
Marcus froze.
“You?”
Victor nodded.
“I worked for the government contractor that rejected you.”
Marcus remembered.
The company had told him his technology was too risky.
His proposal had been dismissed.
Then, three months later, a mysterious consultant had helped him secure funding.
Marcus had never learned who.
“You were there,” Marcus repeated.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Victor stepped closer.
“You were supposed to fail.”
Marcus frowned.
“Why?”
“Because the contract was already promised to someone else.”
Marcus stared at him.
“Who?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Richard Halstead.”
Marcus felt the pieces shifting.
Richard.
Meridian.
The old contract.
The current agreements.
The hidden payments.
But there was something else.
“Why did I get the contract?”
Victor looked away.
“Because someone inside the government leaked the competing bids.”
Marcus's eyes widened.
“Who?”
Victor said nothing.
“Who?”
Victor finally answered.
“Helen Crawford.”
Marcus stepped back.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
“Helen helped me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she realized the people behind the deal were corrupt.”
Marcus stared at him.
“So she helped me win.”
Victor nodded.
“Then she spent the next twenty years trying to bury what happened.”
Marcus's phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
FROM SARAH:
WE FOUND HELEN.
Marcus opened it.
A photograph showed Helen sitting safely inside a car.
Underneath was a message.
SHE'S ALIVE. SHE WANTS YOU TO TRUST VICTOR.
Marcus looked up.
Victor was watching him.
“She told me you wouldn't believe me.”
Marcus lowered the phone.
“Why should I?”
Victor answered quietly.
“Because I can prove everything.”
He reached into his coat.
Marcus tensed.
Victor removed a small metal drive.
He held it out.
“Everything is on this.”
Marcus didn't take it.
“What is it?”
“Records from twenty years ago.”
“Government contracts?”
“Payments. Names. Meetings.”
Marcus stared at the drive.
“And Meridian?”
Victor nodded.
“They've been connected to your company since before Reed Systems existed.”
Marcus's mind raced.
“Why tell me now?”
Victor looked toward the dark platform.
“Because they're cleaning up.”
“Who?”
Victor's face became serious.
“The people who built the system.”
Marcus looked at him.
“And what happens if I don't stop?”
Victor shook his head.
“It's not about stopping them anymore.”
He stepped closer.
“They're coming for you.”
A distant sound echoed through the station.
An engine.
Victor turned toward the tracks.
“Someone followed us.”
Marcus looked down the platform.
Two headlights appeared in the darkness.
A black vehicle was approaching the station entrance.
Victor grabbed Marcus's arm.
“Run.”
They moved through the abandoned terminal.
Behind them, doors slammed open.
Voices echoed through the building.
Marcus followed Victor down a narrow staircase.
They reached an underground maintenance tunnel.
Victor pushed open a rusted gate.
“Keep moving.”
Marcus looked back.
Three men entered the station above.
One shouted.
“Find them!”
Marcus and Victor disappeared into the darkness.
For the first time in twenty years, Marcus Reed understood something terrifying.
His success had never been as simple as he believed.
Someone had helped him rise.
Someone had profited from his success.
And someone had spent twenty years making sure he never discovered why.
Now the secret was finally coming to the surface.
And the people who had buried it were willing to do anything to keep it there.
Chapter 7
The tunnel seemed to have no end.