Chapter 16 - The Trap Opens Twice
The delivery truck carried boxes of ceramic tile to a construction site in downtown Atlanta. I jumped out two blocks from the storage facility and called Agent Cross from a pay phone.“The archive is uploading,” I said.“We see the connection.”“Celia has the physical files.”“Do not attempt to recover them.”“She has my aunt.”“We are locating her.”“Tate is armed and working for her.”“We know.”“You knew?”“We suspected. The department is moving to detain him.”The line went dead.Marcus found me outside a closed pharmacy. Blood darkened his collar, but he was standing.“Where is Mara?” I asked.“She escaped through the roof.”“Sloane?”“With the archive upload.”“Helen?”“Celia took her.”We entered the pharmacy through a broken side window and hid in the stockroom. On the satellite phone, the upload progress reached sixty percent.“The final file,” Marcus said. “What does the key open?”I examined it. It was not a key to a lock. It was a USB security token stamped with an image of a crescent moon.“The Vesper system.”Mara called.“I traced Celia’s vehicle,” she said. “She is heading to Northstar’s old headquarters.”“Why?”“The mirror ledger server is there.”“I thought it was in Delaware.”“The primary server is. The trap’s local mirror is still in Atlanta.”Marcus said, “If she reaches it, she can corrupt the access logs.”“The upload has the files but not the system history.”“Then we go.”Agent Cross called back before we left.“The prosecutor assigned to your guardianship case has withdrawn,” she said. “We found evidence of payments from Mayfield Services.”“Who is replacing him?”“A federal magistrate will review the financial seizure. Your emergency hearing has been moved to tomorrow morning.”“Celia will not wait.”“We know. She is in motion.”Northstar’s old headquarters stood empty behind a chain-link fence. The front doors had been chained, but the loading dock opened with the token.Inside, dust covered the floor. The elevator still worked.The server room was on the third floor. Celia had already cut the power to the hallway, but the emergency lights glowed red.We found Gertrude beside the server rack. Her hands were zip-tied. Helen lay on the floor nearby, conscious but bruised.Celia stood at a console, entering commands.“You are persistent,” she said.“You are predictable.”“Your father used the same word.”“He knew you were stealing.”“He knew everyone was stealing.”“You created the system that let us see it.”“I created the system that kept the company alive.”“You built a reserve with stolen money.”“I built a reserve with money that would otherwise have vanished into your father’s vanity.”“You killed my mother.”Celia’s hands stopped.“Your mother killed herself with certainty,” she said. “She believed exposing me would save you. She did not understand that your father would sacrifice anyone before admitting he had failed.”“Did you damage the brakes?”“Yes.”The word was quiet.“Why?”“Because Elise had the archive. She was going to the authorities.”“And you used me.”“I used everyone.”“Brandon.”“He came to me desperate.”“Gertrude.”“She wanted to be useful.”“Helen.”“She wanted to be paid.”“Warren.”“He wanted forgiveness.”“And you?”Celia looked at the server racks. “I wanted to stop being the person who cleaned up after men who called their theft strategy.”The explanation was not an excuse, but it was human enough to make her more frightening.“The reserve will never be yours,” I said.“It already was.”She held up a drive. “The mirror ledger shows your identity opening the trap. The trust condition will transfer the money to the foundation.”“Unless the original device proves you altered the records.”“The device is gone.”I raised the crescent token. “No. It is here.”Her face changed.I inserted the token into the console.The server displayed a warning.TRAP CONDITION REVERSED. ORIGINAL ACCESS IDENTIFIED.The system began copying the logs.Celia drew a pistol.Marcus stepped in front of me.Gertrude kicked the server rack. Sparks burst across the room. The lights died.In the darkness, Helen screamed.I felt a hand seize my wrist. I struck upward, connected with a jaw, and broke free.Emergency lights returned.Celia was gone.The server screen displayed the final identification.ORIGINAL THIEF: HARTWELL ADVISORY ADMINISTRATOR—CELIA VOSS.Below it, a second line appeared.COLLABORATOR: BRANDON VALE.The real thief had finally been named.But Celia had taken the token.
