Chapter 11 - The Second Man
Wade Mercer had been declared dead four years earlier.
Lily almost laughed at the pattern.
"How many dead men does this town have?"
Thomas's smile disappeared.
Ethan grabbed his collar.
"Where is Mercer?"
"You think I control him?"
Police sirens approached the station.
Thomas looked toward the door.
"Wade never trusted me after Rachel made that tape."
Claire crouched beside the terminal.
"Remote signal came from where?"
Lily scanned the screen.
MUNICIPAL ANNEX - BASEMENT CONTROL.
The old annex sat three blocks from the courthouse on higher ground.
When officers arrived, Ethan handed Thomas over and showed them the tape, ledger, and override log.
One detective, Marisol Vega, listened without interrupting.
Then she said, "Mercer isn't dead."
Everyone stared.
"Federal investigators have suspected it for two years. We thought he fled the country."
Claire laughed once.
"He never left town."
Vega ordered units to the annex.
Lily grabbed her sleeve.
"The gate is open."
"Public works is trying to close it."
"Trying?"
Vega's radio exploded with voices.
A wall of water had breached the industrial channel.
Willow Street would be hit in less than twenty minutes.
Claire looked at Lily.
"The hidden room."
"What about it?"
"There's one thing we didn't take."
She swallowed.
"The original purchase map. It has every shell company and every signature."
Ethan stared at the flood map.
"The house will be underwater before we get back."
May you like
Claire shook her head.
"Then we have nineteen minutes."
