Chapter 34 - The Countdown to 8:47
Every eye remained fixed on the elevator display.
G... B1... B2...
The illuminated letters changed one by one as the elevator descended into the lower levels of the Evergreen facility.
Then...
It stopped.
No one breathed.
Marcus Hale glanced at his watch.
8:01 PM.
Forty-six minutes remained until the time marked by his father's pocket watch.
Detective Susan Ortega quietly broke the silence.
"They're below us."
Kevin Ross shook his head.
"Or they want us to think they are."
Marcus considered both possibilities before issuing new orders.
"Brooks, secure this floor."
"Got it."
"Ortega, nobody touches that envelope until we've photographed every side."
She nodded.
Kevin was already scanning the sealed envelope with another portable imaging device.
His expression changed.
"Marcus..."
"What?"
"There's something inside besides paper."
Marcus walked over.
Kevin enlarged the X-ray image.
Hidden between two folded sheets rested a thin metallic object.
"A key?" Rachel asked.
Kevin slowly shook his head.
"No."
The outline became clearer.
"It looks like..."
He adjusted the image once more.
"...a microfilm cartridge."
Everyone exchanged puzzled looks.
Rachel frowned.
"Microfilm?"
Marcus nodded slowly.
"My father used it during undercover investigations. Before digital evidence became common, sensitive records were often copied onto microfilm because it was easy to hide."
Kevin carefully placed the envelope back into its evidence sleeve.
"If Thomas Hale hid something on microfilm..."
He looked around the room.
"...he didn't trust computers."
Detective Ortega suddenly called from the server room.
"Marcus."
He joined her.
"What did you find?"
She pointed toward one of the climate-controlled cabinets.
Unlike the others, it had no family names.
Only one word.
OPERATORS
Marcus frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Kevin attempted to access the cabinet.
Electronic lock.
Password protected.
Eight-digit code required.
Rachel quietly looked at the appointment book still lying open on the table.
"Could the meetings be connected?"
Marcus returned to the notebook.
Every meeting occurred on different dates.
Different years.
Different cities.
But one detail never changed.
Every meeting began at exactly...
8:47 PM.
Kevin looked up.
"The watch."
Marcus nodded.
"The appointment."
Ortega finished the thought.
"And whatever happens at 8:47."
Officer Brooks' voice suddenly echoed over the radio.
"Movement outside."
Marcus grabbed another flashlight.
"Where?"
"The SUVs."
Everyone hurried toward the reinforced observation window overlooking the parking lot.
The three black SUVs still hadn't left.
But now their doors were open.
Six people wearing dark raincoats stood beside the vehicles.
None attempted to enter the building.
None carried visible weapons.
Instead...
They all looked toward the observation window.
Toward Marcus.
One of them slowly raised a hand.
Not in greeting.
Not in surrender.
He simply pointed toward his own wristwatch.
Then tapped it twice.
Marcus instinctively looked down at Thomas Hale's pocket watch.
8:03 PM.
The strangers weren't threatening them.
They were reminding them.
The countdown had already begun.
As Marcus watched, the man outside calmly reached into his coat and placed a small black case on the wet pavement between the three SUVs.
Without another glance toward the building, all six figures climbed back into their vehicles.
The engines started simultaneously.
Seconds later, the convoy disappeared into the darkness, leaving the mysterious black case alone in the middle of the parking lot.
Officer Brooks looked at Marcus.
"Trap?"
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
He watched the rain fall around the abandoned case for several long seconds.
Then Kevin's laptop emitted a sharp alert.
A file inside the Evergreen servers had just unlocked automatically.
No password.
No command.
Only a timer reaching zero.
May you like
The filename appeared in bright white letters across the screen:
OPEN ONLY AT 8:47 PM
