The team conducted a preliminary inspection using equipment carried in the vehicles. They found no immediate indication of structural collapse, but the tunnel had been sealed long enough that no one could guarantee its condition.
Two investigators entered first, followed by Darren and Helen.
Colton waited near the hatch with Mara and Rebecca.
Samuel remained under supervision beside the vehicles.
The minutes stretched.
From somewhere below came the faint echo of voices.
Then Darren's voice crackled over the radio.
"We have a clear passage. The tunnel continues about forty yards before opening into a lower service corridor. There are signs of recent activity."
Helen's reply was immediate.
"Define recent."
"Fresh footprints. A portable power unit. The dust has been disturbed."
Colton looked at Rebecca.
"Arthur has been here."
"Yes."
"How recently?"
She looked toward the hatch.
"Within the last day, I would guess."
Mara swore under her breath.
Helen spoke over the radio.
"We are proceeding carefully. No one enters until we confirm the main corridor is secure."
They waited another ten minutes.
Then the radio crackled again.
"Helen, you need to see this."
Her expression tightened.
"What is it?"
"A secondary room. It appears to be an archive, but there are signs that someone has removed files. We also found medical records."
Colton's heart began to pound.
"Are they intact?"
"Some of them."
Helen looked at the team.
"We need to secure the area."
She turned to Colton.
"Stay here until I give you clearance."
Colton nodded, though every instinct urged him to descend.
He watched Helen disappear into the hatch.
Mara stood beside him, arms folded against the cold.
"If she finds something about the children, we need to know immediately."
"She will tell us."
"You're trusting the process now?"
"I'm trying."
Mara glanced at him.
"How does it feel?"
"Terrible."
She almost smiled.
"Good. It means you're learning."
The radio remained silent for several minutes.
Then Helen's voice came through.
"Colton, Mara, Rebecca. We need you to come down. There is something here you should see, but I want to be clear that the evidence is being recorded and secured. Do not touch anything unless an investigator directs you."
They descended the stairway one at a time.
The tunnel was narrow, with exposed pipes running along the ceiling. The walls were damp, and the air smelled of concrete and old machinery. Their footsteps echoed as they moved toward the lower corridor.
At the end of the passage, a heavy steel door stood open.
Beyond it was a room lined with cabinets and metal shelves. Several boxes had been left on the floor, their labels written in block letters. A table stood beneath a fluorescent light, and a portable generator hummed near the far wall.
The room was not abandoned.
It had been used recently.
An investigator photographed the entrance while another documented the shelves.
Helen waited beside the table.
On it lay a series of folders, several old photographs, and a thick ledger bound in black leather.
Colton stopped.
"The original ledger?"
"Possibly," Helen said. "We are still verifying the contents."
Rebecca looked as if she might be sick.
Mara stepped closer to the photographs without touching them.
There were pictures of buildings, vehicles, and people standing outside medical clinics. Several showed women entering a facility bearing the Red Mesa logo.
One photograph showed a younger Rebecca beside Arthur Vale.
Another showed Samuel speaking with a doctor.
A third showed a woman holding a newborn child.
Colton stared at it.
The woman was unfamiliar.
The baby was wrapped in a white blanket.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written a date and a series of initials.
Helen read them aloud.
"R.H. Medical Unit. Case seventeen."
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"What does R.H. stand for?" Mara asked.
Rebecca did not answer.
Samuel's voice came from behind them.
"Red Horizon."
Everyone turned.
He had been brought down under supervision after the initial inspection. His face had gone gray.
"Red Horizon was the name of the medical program," he said. "The public name was different. It was supposed to provide prenatal care and postnatal support for women who couldn't afford treatment."
"And what did it actually do?" Helen asked.
Samuel looked at the photograph.
"Some of the clinics provided legitimate care. Others were used to alter records, arrange illegal transfers of custody, and hide the identities of children whose parents were being pressured or paid to surrender them."
Mara stared at him.
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"Stop saying that."
Samuel flinched.
"I don't know because I never saw the complete records. I was involved in the finances, not the medical administration. I saw payments that didn't make sense. I asked questions. I was told the program was protecting vulnerable families."
"Did you believe that?"
"I wanted to."
Colton looked at the photograph.
"Who is the baby?"
Helen carefully lifted the edge of the folder beneath it.