Marcus whispered:
"Who is she?"
The distorted voice answered:
"Your mother."
Marcus stopped breathing.
His mother had died when he was six.
That was what his father had told him.
That was what every official record said.
But the woman in the photograph looked alive.
And she was standing beside him when he was eight.
Raymond slowly turned toward Marcus.
"Son..."
Marcus stared at the screen.
"She's dead."
The man gave a quiet laugh.
"That's what they told you."
The screen went black.
Then a final message appeared.
ASK YOUR FATHER WHY HE LET YOU FORGET.
The monitor shut down.
Nobody moved.
Marcus stood in the center of the underground archive.
His father's photograph lay on the table.
His name appeared on a document connected to a conspiracy that had begun eleven years earlier.
And now he had learned that the woman he believed was dead might still be alive.
Raymond approached him.
"Marcus, listen to me."
Marcus didn't look at him.
"I want to know what happened."
"We'll find out."
"No."
His voice was suddenly sharper.
"I want to know now."
Raymond placed a hand on his shoulder.
Marcus stepped away.
"Don't."
The chief lowered his hand.
Marcus looked at him.
"How much did you know?"
Raymond hesitated.
"Not everything."
"How much?"
"I knew your father was protecting you."
"From what?"
Raymond looked toward the dark monitor.
"From the people who created Subject Four."
Marcus stared at him.
"Who created it?"
Raymond's expression hardened.
Then he answered:
"The police department didn't create Northbridge."
He paused.
"Neither did the deputy commissioner."
Marcus waited.
Raymond continued:
"It was created by someone who had the authority to command both."
7. THE PERSON ABOVE THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER
Sarah approached with her tablet.
"Chief, I found something."
Raymond turned.
"What?"
She displayed a list of access records.
"The archive's internal system logged a remote access attempt thirty seconds before the monitor activated."
"From where?"
Sarah enlarged the location.
"An encrypted terminal."
"Can you identify the terminal?"
She nodded slowly.
"It's registered to the city administration building."
Raymond frowned.
"Which office?"
Sarah looked at him.
"The mayor's executive security office."
Captain Lewis stepped forward.
"That doesn't make sense."
Sarah shook her head.
"The access credential is valid."
Raymond stared at the screen.
"Whose credential?"
Sarah hesitated.
Then she said:
"Mayor Daniel Whitaker."
The room fell silent.
Marcus looked toward Raymond.
"Does the mayor know about Northbridge?"
Raymond answered carefully.
"I don't know."
Sarah turned her tablet toward them.
"There's another problem."
"What?"
"The credential wasn't used today for the first time."
Raymond looked at the screen.
"How long?"
"Eleven years."
Lewis exhaled.
"That's impossible."
Sarah shook her head.
"It was used to access the same archive on the night Michael Reed disappeared."
Marcus slowly turned toward the table.
His father's name.
His mother's photograph.
His own name.
All of it connected to the same date.
He looked at Raymond.
"Then we go to the mayor."
Raymond shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because we don't know who else is involved."
Marcus stepped closer.
"Someone is using my name. Someone knows where I live. Someone has a photograph of my mother. And someone has been inside this archive."
He pointed toward the monitor.
"I don't care how powerful they are."
Raymond studied him.
"I understand."
"No, you don't."
Marcus's voice cracked.
"You knew my father. You knew he disappeared. You knew he was protecting me. And you let me believe he abandoned me."
Raymond looked down.
"I made a promise."
"To whom?"
"Your father."
Marcus shook his head.
"That promise protected him. It didn't protect me."
Raymond had no answer.
Marcus turned away.
For several seconds, he stood silently.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
YOUR MOTHER IS ALIVE.
A second message followed.
SHE IS WAITING AT THE HOUSE.
Marcus stared at the screen.
Raymond noticed his expression.
"What is it?"
Marcus handed him the phone.
Raymond read the messages.
His face tightened.
"Nobody goes anywhere alone."
Marcus looked at him.
"I'm going home."
"Not without protection."
"Then come with me."
Raymond nodded.
"All right."
Sarah immediately stepped forward.
"Chief, we need to secure this archive."
"Do it."
Lewis looked toward the corridor.
"I'll stay here."
Raymond nodded.
"Don't access anything connected to the city network. Photograph the evidence and seal the room."
Sarah looked at Marcus.
"What about the flash drive?"
Raymond glanced at the device.
"Keep it isolated. We'll have an independent forensic team examine it."
Marcus looked at the photograph of his mother.
He picked it up carefully.
Then he placed it inside his jacket.
"Let's go."
8. THE WOMAN AT THE DOOR
The drive back to Marcus's house was silent.
Raymond drove.
Marcus sat beside him, holding the photograph.
He stared at his mother's face.
He remembered almost nothing about her.
A gentle voice.
A perfume he could no longer identify.
A hand resting on his forehead when he was sick.
And a lullaby.
That was all.
He had spent years believing she had died before he was old enough to understand what death meant.
His father had raised him alone.
When Marcus was eight, his father disappeared.
And now, eleven years later, he was learning that both of his parents might have been taken from him for the same reason.