Chapter 17 - A Door Left Open

We couldn't see the end of the corridor through the smoke. Firefighters were entering from the east lobby, but the control-room door was sealed by an electronic lock. A young operator pounded against its glass panel.

"Stay low!" Miles shouted through the door. "Help is coming!"

He pointed to a manual release concealed beneath a wall plate. I recognized the panel from childhood visits with my father, who had insisted every electronic door needed a mechanical escape mechanism.

"The screws are painted over," I said.

A firefighter reached us with a pry tool and protective gear. Miles showed him the release location, then stepped aside so the trained crew could open it. Seconds later they brought the coughing operator into clean air.

"Voss went through the old freight stair," the operator managed. "He took the backup drives."

Kim heard over the radio and sent officers to cover the exits. I leaned against the wall, shaking. The building had nearly swallowed another witness, just as it had swallowed my father.

Miles approached, holding his hands empty. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You did."

"I'm sorry."

For once he didn't add a reason. He just stood there, waiting for whatever I was ready to say.

Outside, rain flashed beneath police lights. Nina helped Evelyn into an ambulance for precautionary observation. Delaney waited beside it, still pale from her accident. When she saw her mother alive, she bent her head against Evelyn's shoulder and cried openly.

I watched them for a moment before turning to Miles.

"I don't know if I can forgive the years you kept quiet," I said.

"You don't have to decide tonight."

"But I do know you told the truth when it could hurt you. That's where we start."

He nodded. No promises. No easy absolution.

Kim hurried toward us. "Pike's talking. He says Voss has a second set of accounts and planned to leave the country tonight. Officers are heading to the airport."

A radio crackled. A driver had been stopped outside a private terminal. The passenger was carrying a black case full of hard drives.

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But the passenger wasn't Voss.

"It's Harold Fenwick," Kim said. "And he says Voss is still inside the Halcyon."