Chapter 5 - THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
Emergency lighting flickered red across the room.
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Then the alarms started.
Reed drew his weapon.
“Stay down.”
Jessica dropped beside the bed.
Dad grabbed Mom.
The hallway outside erupted with shouting.
Someone ran past the door.
Then came a sharp metallic crash.
Reed moved toward the entrance.
“Lock it.”
An agent slammed the door.
I tried to sit up.
Pain tore through my abdomen.
Jessica caught my shoulder.
“Don't.”
“I need to know what's happening.”
“You nearly died.”
“I know.”
Reed looked through the small glass window.
“Power failure is isolated to this floor.”
Dad whispered, “That isn't possible.”
Reed turned.
“Why?”
Dad looked terrified.
“Because the backup generator is in the basement.”
A gunshot cracked somewhere below.
Jessica screamed.
Reed immediately moved everyone away from the door.
Another shot.
Then silence.
I looked at him.
“They're not here for the hospital.”
“No.”
“They're here for me.”
Reed nodded.
“And whatever you brought home.”
I looked toward my coat.
The microfilm was still there.
“Take it.”
Reed hesitated.
“What?”
“Take it.”
He grabbed the capsule.
Then someone spoke through the intercom.
A man's voice.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
“Nightfall.”
I froze.
Jessica looked at me.
The voice continued.
“You always did come home when someone called.”
I knew that voice.
Elias.
Reed motioned for silence.
“Who is that?”
The voice laughed softly.
“Agent Reed.”
Reed's expression changed.
“You know me.”
“I know everyone who tried to bury me.”
Dad stepped backward.
The voice continued.
“Richard Bennett.”
Dad closed his eyes.
“You should have finished what you started.”
Jessica stared at her father.
“What did you do?”
Dad whispered, “I didn't know.”
Elias spoke again.
“Your father knows exactly what he did.”
The hospital doors suddenly burst open.
Two agents fired.
A smoke grenade rolled inside.
Everything disappeared.
I heard shouting.
Feet.
Glass breaking.
Then Jessica grabbed my hand.
“I won't leave you.”
I looked at her.
“Take my bracelet.”
“What?”
“The one from my coat.”
She found it.
A black braided bracelet.
Simple.
Old.
She stared at it.
“This?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it's not jewelry.”
I closed my fingers around hers.
“It identifies the person holding it as protected by my unit.”
She looked terrified.
“What does that mean?”
“It means if they see it, they may hesitate.”
“May?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
Then she tied it around her wrist.
The smoke thickened.
A figure appeared through the haze.
Gray coat.
Dark glasses.
Black bracelet.
Elias Voss.
He stood in the doorway.
Older than the photograph.
Scar across his jaw.
But alive.
He looked directly at me.
“Hello, Nightfall.”
Reed fired.
Elias disappeared behind the wall.
Agents rushed forward.
Then I saw something in his hand.
A photograph.
He dropped it.
It landed beside my bed.
Jessica picked it up.
Her face changed.
It showed a little girl.
Maybe six years old.
Standing beside a military vehicle.
Behind her was a woman.
And beside the woman was me.
Jessica stared at the image.
“Who is she?”
I couldn't answer.
Because I remembered the girl.
Her name was Lily.
The child from the warehouse.
The child I had been ordered to rescue.
The child everyone believed had died.
But the photograph was recent.
On the back was one sentence.
SHE KNOWS WHAT YOUR FATHER DID.
Jessica looked at me.
“Who is Lily?”
I whispered, “The reason I came home.”
Then Reed picked up his radio.
“Team Two, secure the maternity wing.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
His expression was grim.
“Because we just received confirmation that someone matching Lily's description was seen inside this hospital.”
My heart stopped.
“The child is here?”
May you like
Reed nodded.
“And someone is looking for her.”
