Marcus followed Victor through the darkness, one hand against the damp concrete wall to keep his balance.
Behind them, footsteps echoed.
“They're coming,” Victor whispered.
Marcus looked over his shoulder.
“How many?”
“Enough.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It doesn't need to be.”
Victor pushed open another metal door.
They entered an old maintenance room filled with broken equipment and rusted pipes.
Victor closed the door quietly.
Both men stood still.
The footsteps passed outside.
Marcus could hear his own breathing.
After several seconds, Victor whispered, “They're gone.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Who are they?”
“People who don't want that drive to reach anyone.”
“You still haven't answered me.”
Victor leaned against the wall.
“You want names?”
“Yes.”
“Then start with Richard Halstead.”
Marcus shook his head.
“I already suspected Richard.”
“Then you're ahead of most people.”
Victor reached into his coat and removed the metal drive again.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The files aren't just about Meridian.”
Marcus stared at him.
“Then what are they about?”
“Reed Systems.”
Marcus's expression changed.
Victor continued.
“The company was targeted before you even founded it.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Victor placed the drive on an old table.
“Twenty years ago, a group of investors created a plan to control transportation technology across the country.”
Marcus listened.
“They wanted exclusive access to government contracts. Airports. Railways. Shipping ports. Security systems.”
“And they couldn't build the technology.”
“So they looked for someone who could.”
Marcus slowly understood.
“You.”
Victor nodded.
“They found your early research.”
Marcus remembered those days.
He had been twenty-eight.
He had developed a prototype system capable of predicting transportation failures before they happened.
Nobody believed it would work.
Except someone had.
“Who funded my first laboratory?” Marcus asked.
Victor looked at him.
“You were told it was a private investment group.”
“Yes.”
“It wasn't.”
Marcus stared.
“Then who?”
“Meridian.”
Marcus took a step back.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“They invested in me?”
“Indirectly.”
“Why?”
“Because they wanted your technology.”
Marcus shook his head.
“I never signed anything with Meridian.”
“You didn't need to.”
Victor pulled out an old photocopy.
“The company that funded you was a shell corporation.”
Marcus took the paper.
At the bottom was a signature.
Richard Halstead.
Marcus's hands tightened.
Victor continued.
“They expected you to become dependent on their funding.”
“But I didn't.”
“No.”
“You built Reed Systems independently.”
“Yes.”
Marcus looked at the document again.
“Then why didn't they come after me?”
Victor smiled bitterly.
“They did.”
Marcus looked up.
“Several times.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because someone protected you.”
“Helen.”
Victor nodded.
“She blocked three attempts to terminate your government access.”
Marcus remembered Helen.
She had always seemed unusually supportive.
He had assumed it was because she respected his work.
Now he understood there had been more.
“Why did she risk everything?”
Victor looked away.
“Because she believed you were the only person who could break the system.”
Marcus was silent.
“What system?”
Victor answered.
“The network of companies controlling government technology contracts.”
Marcus looked at the drive.
“How many companies?”
“Seven major ones.”
“And Meridian?”
“One.”
“Who controls the others?”
Victor didn't answer.
Marcus frowned.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
Victor looked toward the door.
“Not here.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you everything, you'll become a target.”
Marcus gave a quiet laugh.
“I already am.”
Victor looked at him.
“That isn't a joke.”
“I know.”
A sound came from the corridor.
Both men froze.
Victor pointed toward another exit.
“There's a second tunnel.”
They moved quickly.
The passage opened onto a street behind the abandoned station.
Rain fell heavily.
A black car waited at the curb.
Marcus stopped.
“Whose car?”
“Helen's.”
Victor opened the door.
“Get in.”
Marcus hesitated.
Then entered.
Helen was sitting in the back seat.
She looked exhausted.
But alive.
“Marcus.”
He sat across from her.
“You owe me an explanation.”
Helen nodded.
“I know.”
“You helped me build Reed Systems.”
“Yes.”
“You secretly arranged my first funding.”
“Yes.”
“And Meridian was behind it.”
“Yes.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you would become exactly what they wanted.”
Marcus frowned.
“What did they want?”
Helen looked out the window.
“They wanted to own you.”
Marcus said nothing.
“They knew your technology would become valuable,” she continued. “They wanted you dependent on their money. Then they would buy your company.”
“But I refused their offers.”
“You did.”
“Why?”
“Because you didn't know the real plan.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What plan?”
Helen looked at him.
“They didn't want to buy Reed Systems.”
She paused.
“They wanted to control it.”
Chapter 8
The next morning, Marcus stood in his office watching the city wake.
He had barely slept.
The drive sat inside a secure evidence box.
Three copies had already been made.
One was with Sarah.
One was stored outside the company.
The original remained with Marcus.
He had learned one thing during the night:
Never put all your trust in one place.
Sarah entered.
“We decrypted the first section.”
Marcus turned.
“What did you find?”
She placed a tablet on the desk.
“Payment records.”
“To whom?”
“Government officials.”
Marcus looked at the screen.
Names appeared.
Some were retired.
Some were still active.
One name made him stop.
Edward Lane.
Marcus stared.
His own board director.
“How much?”
Sarah gave him the figure.
Marcus shook his head.
“That's impossible.”
“We verified it three times.”
“Could it be a legitimate consulting payment?”
“Not under the description used.”
Marcus sat down.
Edward had been one of the loudest voices criticizing him.