"Then what happened?"
The woman hesitated.
"I think someone is about to kill me."
Daniel's hand moved instinctively toward the radio on his shoulder.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know who's trying to kill you?"
"I know what they look like."
"How many?"
"Three."
Daniel looked at the clock.
11:49 p.m.
"Are they outside?"
"No."
"Then where are they?"
She looked directly into his eyes.
"Somewhere they shouldn't be."
Daniel didn't like that answer.
Not at all.
He stood.
"Let's start from the beginning."
The woman walked toward the desk.
"My name is Elena Ward."
Daniel pulled out a form.
"Date of birth?"
She stared at him.
"I don't think that's important."
"It is if you're filing a police report."
"I don't think you understand."
"Then help me understand."
She looked at him for several seconds.
Finally she said:
"Officer, if I give you my real name, this building will become the most dangerous place in Blackridge."
Daniel stopped writing.
Behind him, the door to the back room opened.
Jake Holloway stepped out.
"What'd I miss?"
Daniel glanced at him.
"She says someone is trying to kill her."
Jake looked at Elena.
"Do you know who?"
"Not yet."
Jake raised an eyebrow.
Daniel sighed.
"She's also refusing to give us her date of birth."
Jake gave a small laugh.
"Well, that's usually a good sign."
Elena didn't smile.
Neither did Daniel.
Jake walked closer.
"Ma'am, we're here to help you. But you have to cooperate."
"I am cooperating."
"Then tell us who you are."
Elena looked at him.
"You wouldn't believe me."
"Try me."
She reached slowly into her coat pocket.
Daniel's right hand moved toward his holster.
"Easy."
Elena stopped.
Then she removed a small black object.
It wasn't a weapon.
It looked like an old-fashioned key.
She placed it on the counter.
Jake stared at it.
Daniel stared too.
"What is that?" Jake asked.
"A key."
"To what?"
"I don't know."
Jake laughed.
Elena didn't.
Daniel leaned forward.
"Where did you get it?"
"From a man who died twelve hours ago."
The room became quiet.
"Who died?" Daniel asked.
"I don't know his name."
"You don't know the name of a man who gave you a key before he died?"
"He didn't give it to me."
"Then how did you get it?"
Elena looked toward the windows.
"Because he knew I would be the only person who could find it."
Daniel exchanged a glance with Jake.
This was getting stranger by the minute.
He reached for the key.
Elena's hand moved quickly.
"Don't."
Daniel stopped.
"Why?"
"Because if that key is what I think it is, touching it could be a mistake."
Jake folded his arms.
"Lady, you're standing in a police station at midnight telling us not to touch a key."
"Yes."
"Do you understand how that sounds?"
"Yes."
Daniel looked at the object.
It was black metal.
Small.
No markings.
No teeth like an ordinary key.
It looked more like an access token.
"What does it open?"
Elena lowered her voice.
"A door."
"What door?"
"The door beneath the old federal archive."
Daniel's expression changed.
Blackridge had an old federal archive building on the eastern edge of town.
It had been closed for more than twenty years.
Most people didn't even know it existed.
Daniel had seen it once.
A concrete building behind a rusted fence.
No public access.
No obvious purpose.
He had always assumed it was abandoned.
"How do you know about that building?" he asked.
Elena didn't answer.
Jake stepped forward.
"Okay. That's enough."
He reached for the key.
Elena looked at him.
"Officer Holloway."
Jake stopped.
"You know my name."
"I know both your names."
Daniel's stomach tightened.
"How?"
Elena looked at the security camera again.
"I've been watching this station for three days."
Jake's hand went toward his weapon.
Daniel stood.
"Why?"
"Because someone inside this department is helping them."
"Helping who?"
Elena's expression hardened.
"The people who killed the man."
Daniel felt the atmosphere change.
He had worked with Jake for six years.
He knew every habit.
Every gesture.
Every expression.
Jake was nervous.
Not because of Elena.
Because of what she had said.
Daniel noticed.
And for the first time that night, he wondered whether Elena had been telling the truth.
Then the lights went out.
The entire building went black.
Jake swore.
Daniel immediately drew his weapon.
Emergency lights flickered red along the hallway.
Elena didn't move.
She simply whispered:
"They're here."
A sound came from outside.
Three sharp knocks.
Not on the front door.
On the wall.
Daniel turned.
"What was that?"
Elena looked at him.
"They know I'm here."
Jake moved toward the window.
Daniel grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Jake looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because she said they were coming."
"And?"
"And I want to know how she knows."
Another sound.
This time from the roof.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Someone was walking across the building.
Daniel raised his radio.
"Dispatch, this is Unit Twelve. We have a possible security breach at headquarters. Request immediate backup."
Static.
No response.
Daniel tried again.
"Dispatch, respond."
Nothing.
Jake stared at his radio.
"System's down."
Elena walked toward the center of the lobby.
"Not the system."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
"They disabled the repeaters."
"You knew that would happen?"
"I knew they would try."
"How?"
She looked toward the ceiling.
"Because that's what I would have done."
Daniel didn't know what to make of her.
Then the front windows shattered.
Jake ducked.
Daniel pushed Elena behind the desk.
Glass exploded across the floor.
Something struck the wall behind them.
Not a bullet.
A metal object.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
A small tactical device.
"Get down!"
He grabbed Jake and pulled him behind a concrete support column.
Elena was already on the floor.
Calm.
Too calm.
Daniel looked at her.
"Who are you?"
She stared back.
"I told you."
"No. You told me your name."
Another impact shook the building.
Daniel shouted:
"Who are you?"
Elena took a breath.
Then she said:
"My name is not Elena Ward."
Jake stared at her.
Daniel waited.
"My name is Mara Voss."
The name meant nothing to him.
Then Jake went pale.
"You've got to be kidding."
Daniel looked at him.
"You know her?"
Jake didn't answer.
Mara looked at Jake.
"You remember."
Jake took a step backward.
"No."
Daniel pointed his weapon toward him.
"Start talking."
Jake shook his head.
"Daniel..."
"Now."
Mara stood.
"He's not the one you need to worry about."
Daniel didn't lower the gun.
"Then who is?"
Mara looked toward the ceiling.
"The man coming through the roof."
A heavy metallic crash echoed above them.
Someone was cutting through the roof.
Daniel's mind raced.
Blackridge was a small department.
They didn't have tactical resources.
They didn't have armored vehicles.
They didn't have anyone capable of dealing with a coordinated assault.
Unless the attackers weren't here for the police.
Unless they were here for her.
Mara walked toward the rear corridor.
"Where are you going?"
"To the evidence room."
"Why?"
"Because there's something there that they need."
"What?"
"A file."