Chapter 7 - The Easter Egg
The armed men spread across the catwalk.
They had height.
Cover.
Clear lines of fire.
I had an injured witness and no weapon.
The leader rested his rifle against the railing.
“Mason?” I asked.
He smiled.
“You remember me?”
I studied his face.
Scar near the jaw.
Left eye slightly lower than the right.
I remembered a teenager from an old case.
His father ran a trafficking network.
I had put the man in prison.
The boy had watched from the courtroom.
“Evan Mason.”
His smile disappeared.
“You destroyed my family.”
“Your father destroyed your family.”
“You always did enjoy making that distinction.”
Rachel whispered behind me.
“What do we do?”
“Stay close.”
Mason pointed the rifle toward her.
“Where is the backup?”
“She told you.”
“Online.”
“The access key.”
“I gave it to Lily.”
“Where is Lily?”
Mason’s mouth curved.
“Safe for now.”
“You hurt her, the files become the least of your problems.”
“You still think you control the room.”
“No.”
“I think you need something.”
“That makes you cautious.”
Mason laughed.
“You were better fifteen years ago.”
“I slept more.”
He motioned toward a table.
A phone sat beneath the warehouse light.
“Call Lily.”
“Tell her to surrender the silver egg.”
I picked up the phone.
It was already connected.
Lily answered.
“Dad?”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
Her voice was strained.
Someone stood close to her.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Concrete walls.”
“No windows.”
Mason tapped the railing.
“The egg, Commander.”
I chose my next words carefully.
“Lily, do you still have your Easter gift?”
Silence.
Then she understood.
“Yes.”
“Give it to them.”
Rachel shook her head.
I ignored her.
Lily’s breathing became faster.
“But Dad—”
“Give them the silver egg.”
A male voice near her said,
“Smart man.”
A few seconds passed.
Then Lily whispered,
“They have it.”
Mason’s phone buzzed.
He checked the message.
His smile returned.
“Thank you.”
I looked at Rachel.
She was pale.
“You gave them the evidence,” she whispered.
“No.”
I raised my eyes toward Mason.
“I gave them a tracker.”
Mason stopped smiling.
Lily and I had a tradition.
Every Easter, even after she became an adult, I gave her a small silver egg.
After she married Richard, I started hiding a locator chip inside it.
Not because I expected a kidnapping.
Because the first year of her marriage, she disappeared for twelve hours and claimed her phone had died.
I had never believed that story.
Mason raised his rifle.
“You’re bluffing.”
“My phone is transmitting the location right now.”
He checked his screen.
The warehouse filled with distant sirens.
Mason’s men looked toward the doors.
He fired.
I pulled Rachel behind the steel table.
The bullet struck the concrete.
Grant’s tactical team breached the west entrance.
Smoke grenades rolled across the floor.
Gunfire cracked above us.
Mason disappeared from the catwalk.
I dragged Rachel toward cover.
A deputy reached us.
“Sheriff says Lily’s signal is moving.”
“Where?”
“South.”
“Fast.”
Grant ran through the smoke.
“We tracked the egg.”
“It’s in a vehicle heading toward the city.”
I stood.
“Mason was buying time.”
Grant looked toward the empty catwalk.
“For what?”
Rachel answered.
“To reach the courthouse.”
I turned toward her.
“Why the courthouse?”
Her voice shook.
“Because the original building-collapse records are stored in the county archive.”
“They don’t just want the key.”
“They’re going to destroy the only evidence that proves the ledger is real.”
Grant checked his radio.
Then his face changed.
May you like
“The courthouse alarm just went offline.”
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