Three gunshots echoed through the corridor.
When the emergency lights returned, the guards were unconscious.
Victoria Shaw stood in the doorway.
"Move!"
Elena followed her.
"Where is my mother?"
Victoria grabbed her arm.
"Alive. But we don't have much time."
"Where is Daniel?"
Victoria looked at her.
"He's being held in the original Room 07."
"Take me there."
Victoria hesitated.
"There's something you need to know first."
"What?"
"Your mother wasn't the last witness."
Elena stared at her.
"Who was?"
Victoria slowly removed a photograph from her coat.
It showed a young woman standing beside Jonathan Bell.
The woman was holding a newborn baby.
On the back was a handwritten name.
SARAH WHITMORE.
Beneath it were five words:
THE FIRST WITNESS IS STILL ALIVE.
Elena looked at Victoria.
"Sarah?"
Victoria nodded.
"She's been waiting twenty years to tell the truth."
And somewhere beneath the courthouse, another door began to open.
The underground passage was colder than Elena expected.
Victoria led her through a narrow corridor filled with old electrical cables and broken security equipment.
"How long have you known about this place?" Elena asked.
"Twenty years."
"And you've done nothing?"
Victoria stopped walking.
"You think I haven't tried?"
She turned toward Elena.
"My husband was killed because he refused to cooperate with Jonathan. My daughter Rachel spent most of her life hiding from people who wanted her dead. I lost everything."
"Then why did you work for Black Lantern?"
"Because I believed I could control it."
Elena looked at her.
"That's what every criminal says."
Victoria said nothing.
They continued walking.
At the end of the corridor was a large steel door.
A number was painted above it.
Victoria entered a code.
The lock clicked.
Inside, Daniel was sitting on the floor.
His face was bruised, and one sleeve of his uniform was covered in blood.
"Elena!"
She rushed toward him.
"Are you hurt?"
"Nothing serious."
She unlocked his handcuffs.
Daniel looked at Victoria.
"Who is she?"
"Victoria Shaw."
He immediately stepped away.
"Why should we trust her?"
Victoria sighed.
"Because I'm the reason you're both still alive."
Daniel shook his head.
"You're the reason my father is dead."
"I didn't kill Michael."
"But you knew Jonathan would."
Victoria lowered her eyes.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Daniel noticed a second door behind the interrogation table.
"What is that?"
Victoria looked at it.
"The original archive."
She opened the door.
Inside were dozens of boxes, recording devices, photographs, and handwritten files.
Daniel walked toward the shelves.
One file carried his father's name.
Another carried Elena's.
He opened the first.
Inside was a report dated twenty years earlier.
SUBJECT: DANIEL REEVES.
ORIGINAL MOTHER: SARAH WHITMORE.
GUARDIAN: MICHAEL REEVES.
STATUS: IDENTITY TRANSFERRED.
Daniel stared at the words.
Then he opened Elena's file.
SUBJECT: ELENA CROSS.
ORIGINAL MOTHER: MARGARET CROSS.
GUARDIAN: UNKNOWN.
A handwritten note appeared at the bottom.
Both children must remain separated until the investigation is permanently closed.
Elena looked at Victoria.
"Why were we separated?"
Victoria took a deep breath.
"Because Sarah and Margaret had discovered the financial network behind Black Lantern. They were planning to testify together."
"What did Jonathan do?"
"He kidnapped Sarah and threatened Margaret. Michael Reeves managed to rescue Daniel, but Margaret disappeared before he could return for Elena."
Daniel looked up.
"Then who raised Elena?"
Victoria hesitated.
"Your mother was placed with a family under police protection. But Jonathan arranged for that family to receive false records."
Elena felt sick.
"So I never knew my real history."
"No."
"Where is that family now?"
"Dead."
Elena closed her eyes.
Before she could respond, footsteps echoed outside.
Victoria turned sharply.
"Someone's coming."
Daniel grabbed a folder.
"We need to leave."
The door opened.
Captain Richard Hayes entered.
His gun was pointed directly at them.
"Nobody moves."
Elena raised her weapon.
"Hayes."
"Put it down."
Daniel stepped forward.
"You killed my father."
Hayes looked at him.
"I didn't kill Michael."
"You sent Bennett after him."
"I was trying to stop him from making another mistake."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"That's what you call murder?"
Hayes lowered his weapon slightly.
"You don't know what Jonathan is capable of."
Elena pointed her gun at him.
"Then help us bring him down."
Hayes shook his head.
"He's already gone."
"What?"
"He has the original witness recordings. He's planning to destroy everything tonight."
Victoria stared at him.
"How do you know?"
Hayes looked directly at her.
"Because I gave them to him."
Silence.
Daniel stepped backward.
"You betrayed us."
Hayes closed his eyes.
"I had no choice."
Elena's voice became cold.
"Everyone has a choice."
Hayes looked at her.
"Not when someone is holding your daughter."
He pulled a photograph from his pocket.
It showed a young woman tied to a chair.
Rachel Shaw.
Victoria gasped.
"My daughter."
Hayes lowered his gun.
"Jonathan has her. He wants the archive files in exchange for her life."
Daniel looked at the folder in his hands.
Then at the captain.
"Where is he?"
Hayes pointed toward the elevator.
"At the old courthouse."
Elena moved toward the door.
"Then we're going."
Hayes stopped her.
"There's one more thing."