Chapter 4 - Darkness and Demands
The emergency backup generator kicked in three seconds later, bathing the interrogation room in a sickly, amber-tinted glow. But in those three seconds of absolute blackness, the heavy metal door had clicked shut, and the deadbolt had thrown itself with a loud, mechanical thud.
"Miller! Open the door!" the federal agent shouted, rushing across the room and slamming her fist against the reinforced steel. There was no response from the hallway.
Clara pulled Justin off the metal chair, wrapping her arms completely around him as her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. "What is happening? Is this an arrest or an attack?"
"It's neither," a synthesized, distorted voice crackled through the room's emergency intercom speaker, sounding metallic and devoid of any human warmth. "Mrs. Hayes, step away from the table. Put the boy in the corner."
Detective Miller drew his service weapon, aiming it squarely at the ceiling speaker. "Identify yourself or face immediate lethal force!"
"You don't have the clearance for my name, Detective," the voice replied smoothly, echoing with an unnerving digital reverb. "And you certainly don't have the jurisdiction to protect the Hayes family from what's coming next. Justin completed thirty percent of the payload before you so rudely interrupted his afternoon."
Justin buried his face in Clara's shirt, crying softly. "It's him, Mom. That's the voice from the phone."
"Leave him alone!" Clara screamed at the speaker. "He's just a child! Take whatever files you want, but let us go home!"
"Home no longer exists, Mrs. Hayes," the synthesized voice whispered, sending a shiver down Clara's spine. "While you were sitting in this lovely government box, a team of cleanup specialists entered your house. They aren't looking for data anymore. They're looking for the master ledger Dr. Thorne hid inside your son's old backpack."
The federal agent cursed under her breath, turning back to the door and pulling a tactical breaching tool from her belt. "They're sanitizing the entire neighborhood to cover their tracks."
"Wait," Clara said, her eyes widening in sudden realization as she looked down at Justin's grass-stained sneakers. "Justin... when you were mowing the lawn across the street yesterday, what did Mr. Henderson give you before you left?"
May you like
Justin sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "He gave me his old silver pocket watch and told me to hide it in the backyard birdhouse because the men in black cars were watching his house, too."
---
