Chương 6
“Then stay alive long enough to hear them.”
Mara released him.
The words bothered her because they sounded exactly like something Daniel would say.
A practical instruction wrapped around a decision she was not allowed to make.
She moved away from the window.
Grant turned off the lights.
The station went dark except for the weak gray light coming through the clouds.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Mara could hear rain hitting the roof.
Water dripping somewhere near the back wall.
Her own breathing.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Careful.
Not someone searching randomly.
Someone who knew where the building was.
Grant reached into his backpack.
Mara saw the object in his hand.
A small handgun.
Her expression changed.
“You carry that often?”
“Only when I know where I’m going.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
“No.”
He checked the weapon.
“It’s not supposed to be.”
A strange thought crossed her mind.
She trusted him slightly more because he admitted something unpleasant.
That bothered her too.
Trust had become dangerous.
The door handle moved.
Once.
Then stopped.
Mara and Grant looked at each other.
Neither moved.
A voice came from outside.
“Grant.”
Male.
Calm.
Not shouting.
That made it worse.
“Open the door.”
Grant did not answer.
The person outside waited.
No threats.
No impatience.
Just confidence.
Mara whispered, “Who is that?”
Grant’s jaw tightened.
“Someone who should not be here.”
“That narrows it down.”
He looked at her.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“No.”
She lowered her voice.
“I’m done standing behind people who decide what I need to know.”
For a second, Grant looked like he wanted to argue.
Then he stopped.
Maybe because he understood.
Maybe because he had heard that same sentence from Daniel.
The door handle moved again.
A piece of wood cracked near the lock.
The person outside was not asking anymore.
Grant moved toward the side of the room.
Mara looked around.
Old shelves.
A fireplace.
A back door.
One window.
No good options.
The front door broke open.
A man stepped inside.
He wore dark outdoor clothing covered in rain.
Not tactical gear.
Not anything dramatic.
Just practical clothes.
The kind someone wore when they wanted to move through a forest without being remembered.
He looked around the room.
His eyes stopped on Grant.
Then Mara.
Then the badge on the table.
His expression changed slightly.
“You found Calder’s badge.”
Mara felt her stomach tighten.
“You know him.”
The man ignored the question.
Grant raised the gun.
“Elias.”
The name landed.
Mara watched the man.
Elias looked older than she expected.
Maybe early sixties.
Gray hair.
Tired eyes.
No obvious anger.
That unsettled her.
People who wanted to hurt others rarely looked like monsters.
They usually looked ordinary.
“You shouldn’t have brought her here,” Elias said.
Grant’s face hardened.
“I didn’t bring her.”
“No.”
Elias looked at Mara.
“She followed the evidence.”
Mara noticed something.
He did not say she survived.
He did not say she fell.
He knew enough about what happened.
“How long have you been watching?” she asked.
Elias looked at her.
“Long enough.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
He glanced at the radio.
“Neither is most of what you’ve been given.”
Grant stepped forward.
“Leave.”
Elias ignored him.
“Mara, Daniel was supposed to get you out before they noticed.”
The room went still.
Mara stared at him.
“Before who noticed?”
Elias did not answer.
Grant did.
“Northline.”
Elias looked at him.
“No.”
That single word changed something.
Grant lowered the gun slightly.
“No?”
Elias shook his head.
“You still think this is about Northline.”
Mara felt the same frustration she had felt with Daniel.
Everyone knew more.
Everyone decided when she was ready.
“What is it about?”
Elias looked at the badge.
Then at her.
“It’s about why Evan Calder had to disappear.”
Mara looked at the plastic card.
“He died.”
Elias did not respond.
That was enough.
The room became silent again.
“You’re saying he didn’t.”
“I’m saying the report you read was written to make you stop asking questions.”
Mara looked at Grant.
He did not look surprised.
That hurt.
“You knew.”
Grant looked away.
“I suspected.”
“You suspected a dead man was alive?”
“I suspected someone wanted him to be.”
The answer was frustrating because it was careful.
Everything was careful.
Every person connected to this was trying to survive by holding information.
Mara stepped toward Elias.
“Why did Daniel take me?”
Elias’s expression changed.
For the first time, something close to sympathy appeared.
“Because he thought he could fix what he started.”
Mara felt anger rise.
“What did he start?”
Elias looked at Grant.
Then back at her.
“Daniel created the first leak.”
The sentence hit harder than she expected.
“No.”
Grant said nothing.
That silence was worse.
Mara looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I knew he was involved.”
“Not that.”
“I knew he took something.”
“What?”
Elias answered.
“A list.”
Mara waited.
“What kind of list?”
“People.”
The word seemed too simple.
Too ordinary.
“What people?”
“People connected to the failures.”
“Witnesses?”
Elias shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the broken door.
“Targets.”
The rain outside grew heavier.
Mara felt the room shift.
All the pieces she had been trying to connect changed shape.
The reports.
The missing files.
The falsified signatures.
Daniel’s fear.
The helicopter.
She had thought she was investigating a company hiding mistakes.
Maybe she had been investigating something that chose mistakes.
“Why would Daniel have a list like that?”
Elias looked at her.
“Because he was hired to make risk assessments.”
“And?”
“And he realized the risks were not accidents.”
Mara thought of Daniel sitting across from her in the helicopter.
The man who kept saying he was trying to protect her.
The man who never once said he was innocent.
“Where is he now?”
Nobody answered.
That was when she knew the answer mattered.
A sound came from outside.
Not footsteps.
A vehicle.
Grant moved toward the window.
His face changed.
“What?”
Mara stood.
May you like
“What is it?”
He looked back.
