Daniel followed.
Jake remained behind.
Daniel glanced over his shoulder.
"Jake!"
His partner looked up.
"Come on."
Jake hesitated.
Then followed.
The three moved through the dark hallway.
Emergency lights painted everything red.
Mara stopped outside the evidence room.
"Open it."
Daniel shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because I can't."
"You said there's a file."
"There is."
"Then open it."
Mara looked at him.
"I don't have the key."
Daniel pulled out his ring.
He unlocked the door.
The evidence room was filled with shelves.
Boxes.
Sealed bags.
Old case files.
Mara walked directly to the back.
She stopped at shelf seventeen.
Daniel stared.
"How do you know where that is?"
"I told you."
"You've been watching us."
"Yes."
She pulled out a box.
The label read:
BLACKRIDGE FEDERAL TRANSFER — CASE 1987-04.
Daniel frowned.
"That's forty years old."
"Exactly."
She opened it.
Inside was a thin folder.
Mara removed it.
Jake suddenly spoke.
"You shouldn't open that."
Daniel turned.
"Why?"
Jake looked at Mara.
"Because that file doesn't belong to the police department."
Mara nodded.
"Finally."
Daniel looked between them.
"What the hell is going on?"
Jake's face had lost its color.
"That file was sealed."
"By who?"
"The Department of Defense."
Daniel stared.
"You're telling me the Department of Defense has a file in our evidence room?"
Jake nodded.
"It was transferred here in 1987."
"Why?"
"Because someone wanted it hidden."
Mara opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
Three men.
One woman.
A military compound.
Daniel recognized one of the men.
His breath caught.
"That's impossible."
Mara looked at him.
"You know him?"
Daniel pointed.
"That's Colonel Elias Voss."
Mara nodded.
"My father."
Jake looked at her.
Daniel slowly turned.
"Your father?"
"Yes."
"He's been dead for twenty years."
"That's what they wanted everyone to believe."
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
Mara closed the folder.
Daniel raised his weapon.
Jake did the same.
The door opened.
A man in black tactical gear stood there.
He raised a rifle.
Daniel fired first.
The attacker dropped.
Silence returned.
Daniel stared at the body.
Jake whispered:
"That wasn't local."
Mara looked at the dead man.
"No."
"What was he?"
"Special operations."
Daniel looked at her.
"How do you know?"
Mara crouched beside the body.
She turned over his wrist.
A small tattoo was visible.
Three black lines.
Daniel had seen it before.
Years ago.
During a classified security training course.
It belonged to a military unit that officially didn't exist.
Mara stood.
"They're not here to arrest me."
Daniel looked at the folder.
"Then what do they want?"
She answered:
"Everyone who knows what is inside that file."
Jake swallowed.
"How many people know?"
Mara looked at him.
"Tonight?"
"Yes."
She counted silently.
"Four."
Daniel frowned.
"Who?"
Mara pointed toward the dead operative.
"Him."
Then she pointed at Jake.
"You."
Daniel felt his stomach tighten.
"Me?"
"And me."
She looked toward the hallway.
"There's one more."
A voice came through the darkness.
"You're forgetting someone."
Daniel turned.
A man stepped into the emergency light.
Chief Raymond Cole.
The chief of Blackridge Police.
He was holding a pistol.
Daniel's entire body froze.
"Chief?"
Cole smiled.
"I'm sorry, Daniel."
Jake slowly lowered his weapon.
Mara didn't.
Cole looked at her.
"Agent Voss."
Daniel stared.
"Agent?"
Mara said nothing.
Cole continued.
"You've caused a lot of trouble."
Mara's eyes remained fixed on him.
"You killed my father."
Cole's expression changed.
For the first time, the calm mask disappeared.
"Your father made his choice."
"He refused to hand over the program."
"He betrayed his country."
"No."
Mara stepped forward.
"He protected it."
Cole raised his weapon.
Daniel moved between them.
"Chief, put the gun down."
Cole looked at him.
"You don't understand what you're standing in the middle of."
"Then explain."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because if you knew, you'd already be dead."
Mara said quietly:
"He's right."
Daniel looked at her.
"What?"
She opened the folder.
Inside was a document.
At the top was a single word:
ORPHEUS.
Daniel stared.
"What is Orpheus?"
Mara looked at him.
"A system designed to predict political assassinations before they happen."
Jake's face went blank.
Cole said:
"It was supposed to protect national leaders."
Mara shook her head.
"It became something else."
"What?"
"Something that could identify anyone who might become a threat."
Daniel felt cold.
"Anyone?"
"Judges. Journalists. Scientists. Military officers. Politicians. Whistleblowers."
Cole interrupted.
"That's enough."
Mara looked at him.
"You've spent twenty years protecting it."
Cole's finger tightened around the trigger.
"Twenty years ago, I saved this country."
"No."
Mara's voice was almost a whisper.
"You saved yourself."
Then the building shook.
A distant explosion rolled through the town.
Windows rattled.
Cole looked toward the ceiling.
Mara smiled for the first time.
"They're here."
Cole frowned.
"Who?"
Mara turned toward the front entrance.
"The people you were afraid of."
Headlights appeared through the rain.
Not one vehicle.
Not two.
A convoy.
Black armored SUVs rolled into the street.
Behind them came military trucks.
Then a helicopter appeared above the rooftops.
Its searchlight swept across Blackridge.
Daniel stared.
Cole looked terrified.
Mara walked toward the window.
The helicopter hovered above the police station.
A loudspeaker echoed through the rain.
"BLACKRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT. DROP ALL WEAPONS AND EXIT THE BUILDING."
Cole whispered:
"They found us."
Mara looked at Daniel.
"No."
She shook her head.
"They found you."
The helicopter descended.
The storm seemed to disappear beneath its engines.
Every window in the station trembled.
Daniel looked at Mara.
"Who are they?"
She reached into her coat.
This time she removed a small encrypted phone.
She pressed one button.
A voice answered immediately.
"Voss."
"Status?"
"Extraction team is on site."
"Any casualties?"
"Unknown."
Mara looked at Cole.
"One confirmed."
The voice paused.
"Who?"
Mara looked at Daniel.
Then at Jake.
Then back at Cole.
"Colonel Raymond Cole."
Cole raised his gun.
Daniel tackled him.
The shot went into the ceiling.
Jake grabbed Cole's arm.
Mara stepped back.