CHAPTER 26 : The Court Beneath the Court
Victoria agreed to enter the courthouse tunnel.
She did not ask Daniel to trust her.
She asked him to record everything.
The old courthouse had been closed since Judge Bell’s arrest.
Mara obtained temporary access through a local warrant before the false federal version of her identity could interfere.
Grace stayed with Eleanor.
Maya remained beside Henry.
At midnight, Daniel, Victoria, and Mara entered the basement.
The tunnel entrance was hidden behind a wall of archived tax records.
Victoria stood before a voice terminal.
A green light activated.
“State your name,” the system said.
“Victoria Lane.”
“State your purpose.”
Victoria looked at Daniel.
“I want the truth.”
The wall opened.
A staircase descended beneath the courthouse.
The room below contained empty shelves.
Someone had removed the black archive.
Only one projector remained.
It turned on automatically.
A video appeared on the wall.
Thomas Mercer stood inside an unfinished room.
He was younger.
Eleanor stood beside him wearing an ivory dress.
Gideon Shaw faced them.
A pregnant woman remained near the doorway.
Her face was hidden from the camera.
Gideon spoke first.
“The Registry cannot be shut down because you suddenly developed a conscience.”
Thomas stepped toward him.
“It was designed to protect people.”
“It does protect them.”
“You sell their identities.”
“I fund the network.”
“You imprison witnesses who want to return home.”
“I prevent them from exposing us.”
Eleanor moved between the men.
“We are ending it.”
Gideon laughed.
“You signed the charter, Eleanor.”
Daniel looked at his mother’s younger face.
Eleanor did not deny it.
“The charter authorized emergency relocation.”
“It authorized permanent legal separation.”
“Only when a life was in immediate danger.”
“Danger is a flexible word.”
The pregnant woman turned slightly.
Thomas looked toward her.
“Rebecca, leave.”
Daniel stopped the recording.
“Rebecca Shaw?”
Victoria examined the frozen image.
“No.”
“What do you mean?”
“That woman is too young to be Gideon’s wife.”
Mara pointed toward the woman’s hand.
She wore Thomas Mercer’s wedding ring.
The same ring later displayed beside his final letter.
Daniel restarted the video.
The woman touched her stomach.
“If the Registry closes, my child will have no identity.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“Your child will have a real name.”
“She cannot.”
“Why?”
The woman faced the camera.
Her features remained blurred by damaged film.
“Because Thomas is her father.”
Daniel felt the air leave his lungs.
Thomas did not respond.
Neither did Eleanor.
Gideon smiled.
“You see the problem.”
The recording skipped.
When the image returned, the room was filled with smoke.
Thomas held the pregnant woman’s shoulders.
Eleanor stood near the exit.
She looked terrified.
Gideon’s voice came from outside the frame.
“One family leaves tonight. The other disappears.”
A bright flash ended the video.
The projector shut off.
Victoria touched the wall beneath the screen.
“There’s something behind it.”
Daniel helped her remove the panel.
Inside was a metal box.
It contained no archive.
Only a medical bracelet.
REBECCA MERCER.
DATE OF BIRTH: UNKNOWN.
MOTHER: CLASSIFIED.
A small audio device rested beneath it.
Daniel pressed play.
A woman whispered through static.
“Daniel, if you find this, do not ask Eleanor who your sister was.”
The voice broke.
“Ask her what she did to make herself forget.”
Footsteps came from the staircase.
Mara raised her weapon.
Director Adrian Hale appeared at the entrance.
He carried no gun.
He held Peter Holloway’s black ledger.
“You keep searching for the people who stole the Registry,” he said.
May you like
His eyes moved toward Daniel.
“You should be asking why your parents created it.”
