Chapter 10 - Pierre's Last Warning

Thomas watched his dead father speak.

“I've spent nine years building a case Gabriel can't bury.”

Pierre looked exhausted.

“But I made one final mistake. I let him know I was close.”

The video flickered.

“If anything happens to me, the last part of the archive is not in my house.”

Thomas leaned forward.

“Where is it?”

Pierre couldn't hear him.

But for one strange second, it felt like he might.

“It is where Thomas first met Émilie.”

Thomas closed his eyes.

He knew immediately.

St. Vincent Community Center.

Fifteen years earlier, Thomas had volunteered there during a company charity weekend.

Émilie had been fixing a broken computer in the back office.

He'd spilled coffee on her paperwork.

She'd called him an idiot.

He had fallen in love with her three weeks later.

Pierre continued.

“The final archive contains original recordings, account keys, and Gabriel's direct instructions. Without it, the evidence can be attacked. With it, he cannot explain his way out.”

Sarah stood.

“We need that archive before nine.”

Thomas checked the time.

7:12.

“We also need Madeleine and Émilie.”

Sarah called her captain.

This time Thomas didn't stop her.

Within twenty minutes, a small team was moving.

No marked vehicles.

No sirens.

No one connected to Delacourt Holdings.

Thomas and Sarah drove to St. Vincent.

The building had closed years earlier.

Its windows were boarded.

The side door was chained.

Thomas broke a pane, reached through, and opened it.

Sarah followed.

“Where did you meet her?”

“Computer room.”

The hall smelled of dust and damp drywall.

Thomas found the old room.

Most of the equipment was gone.

One metal cabinet remained.

He searched it.

Nothing.

Sarah checked the walls.

“You said Pierre trusted objects.”

Thomas looked around.

Then remembered the day he'd met Émilie.

He had spilled coffee because he'd tripped over a loose floor vent.

He looked down.

The vent was still there.

Thomas dropped to his knees.

Removed two screws.

Underneath sat a sealed steel container.

Sarah exhaled.

“Your father really liked scavenger hunts.”

Thomas pulled it out.

Inside was a hard drive and another letter.

Before he could open it, Sophie called from Sarah's secure phone.

“Thomas?”

He smiled despite himself.

“Hey.”

“I remembered something.”

“What?”

“Mom told me if I ever found you, I had to ask one question.”

Thomas frowned.

“What question?”

Sophie hesitated.

“Do you still hate thunderstorms?”

Thomas closed his eyes.

No one knew that except Émilie.

When they were dating, he'd admitted he hated storms because he had been trapped in a basement during a flood at age six.

Émilie used to joke about it.

“No,” Thomas said softly. “Not anymore.”

Sophie laughed a little.

“Mom said you'd lie.”

For the first time that day, Thomas smiled.

Then Sophie said, “There's one more thing.”

“What?”

“Mom told me about the textile mill.”

Thomas straightened.

“She said Gabriel used it years ago.”

“We know.”

“No.”

Sophie's voice sharpened.

“She said there's a tunnel.”

Thomas looked at Sarah.

“What tunnel?”

“From the mill to the old river loading dock.”

Sarah immediately pulled up city records.

Sophie continued.

“She made me memorize it because she said if Gabriel ever found us, that's where he'd take her.”

Thomas's stomach tightened.

“Why?”

“Because there's no camera coverage underground.”

Sarah turned the screen.

A utility tunnel ran beneath the mill.

Its river exit was half a mile away.

Thomas understood.

Gabriel would expect police at the mill.

But his escape route was somewhere else.

Sarah reached for her radio.

Then Thomas's phone buzzed.

A picture message.

Madeleine was tied to a chair.

Émilie sat beside her.

Gabriel stood behind them.

Under the photograph were six words.

COME ALONE OR BOTH WOMEN DIE.

Thomas checked the time.

8:03.

Then another message arrived.

This one was from Madeleine's phone.

But it wasn't a photograph.

It was one sentence.

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Thomas recognized his mother's way of typing immediately.

YOUR FATHER TAUGHT ME THE TUNNEL TOO.