CHAPTER 13 – The Chase Through the Capitol
CHAPTER 13 – The Chase Through the Capitol
The warehouse erupted into motion.
The countdown on Lucas Bennett's monitor continued to fall.
02:37... 02:36... 02:35...
Every second meant another portion of William Carter's evidence disappearing forever.
Lucas looked from the screen to Adrian.
"The estate."
"Are you certain?"
Adrian nodded without hesitation.
"I remember now."
"The memory wasn't erased."
"It was locked."
Brooks frowned.
"What unlocked it?"
Adrian looked toward Evelyn.
"The broadcast."
"The succession protocol triggered the buried memories."
Victor Hale laughed quietly despite the handcuffs around his wrists.
"It doesn't matter."
"You're already too late."
Lucas ignored him.
"How far?"
Adrian answered immediately.
"Twenty-two minutes by car."
Lucas looked at the countdown.
"We don't have twenty-two minutes."
One of the detectives rushed into the operations room.
"Officer!"
Brooks turned.
"What is it?"
"The broadcast is causing chaos."
He held up a tablet.
Every major news network carried the same story.
SECRET GLOBAL ORGANIZATION EXPOSED
CLASSIFIED FILES LEAK ONLINE
Government buildings across the country had entered emergency lockdown.
Military vehicles surrounded federal offices.
Financial markets had temporarily halted trading.
Police departments were overwhelmed with simultaneous arrest warrants.
Lucas stared at the incoming reports.
William Carter hadn't merely exposed Project Guardian.
He had shaken the foundations of governments around the world.
Another alert flashed across the screen.
UNITED STATES CAPITOL COMPLEX UNDER EMERGENCY LOCKDOWN
Brooks frowned.
"The Capitol?"
Lucas zoomed in.
A blinking location marker appeared.
His face changed instantly.
"Oh no."
Evelyn looked over his shoulder.
"What?"
"The upload isn't traveling directly to the internet."
He enlarged the network map.
"The signal is bouncing through a secure government relay."
Brooks understood immediately.
"The Capitol."
Lucas nodded.
"If Guardian cuts that relay..."
"The broadcast dies."
Adrian stepped closer.
"I know another way."
Lucas looked at him.
"The original relay room."
Brooks frowned.
"How do you know that?"
Adrian answered quietly.
"Because I designed part of it."
Silence filled the room.
He quickly added,
"I didn't know what it would eventually be used for."
Lucas believed him.
"Can we reach it?"
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
"But we'll have to cross the Capitol before Guardian does."
Within minutes...
Three unmarked SUVs sped through downtown streets.
Police sirens screamed behind them.
Helicopters circled overhead.
Television helicopters filled the sky, broadcasting the unfolding crisis live.
Evelyn sat silently in the rear seat.
She watched thousands of people gathering around giant public screens.
Watching her father's final message.
Watching decades of lies collapse.
Beside her, Adrian held a folded map of the Capitol complex.
His injured shoulder continued bleeding through fresh bandages.
Yet he never complained.
He only studied the routes.
Lucas drove.
Brooks coordinated police movements over a secured military radio borrowed from a federal task force.
"West entrance compromised."
"South gate blocked."
Lucas glanced at Adrian.
"Options?"
Adrian pointed ahead.
"The underground service tunnel."
They reached the Capitol just as emergency barricades slammed shut.
Federal agents rushed in every direction.
Armored vehicles surrounded the historic building.
Crowds of reporters filled the surrounding streets.
No one noticed Lucas's SUV disappearing into an old maintenance entrance beneath the eastern plaza.
The tunnel was dark.
Bare concrete walls stretched ahead.
Adrian led the way on foot.
"This passage hasn't been used in years."
Brooks looked around.
"You seem awfully familiar with it."
Adrian nodded sadly.
"I spent months here."
"Installing encrypted infrastructure."
Evelyn quietly asked,
"For Guardian?"
He answered honestly.
"Yes."
The truth still hurt.
But at least now...
It was the truth.
The tunnel opened into a maze of service corridors beneath the Capitol.
Old steam pipes lined the ceilings.
Maintenance carts stood abandoned.
The deeper they moved...
The more recent the renovations became.
Modern security cameras.
Electronic locks.
Fiber-optic cables.
Guardian had quietly modernized an entire underground network beneath one of the country's most protected buildings.
Lucas whispered,
"This wasn't infiltration."
"They helped build it."
Suddenly...
Footsteps echoed ahead.
Brooks immediately signaled everyone against the wall.
Five armed men crossed the next intersection.
Black tactical uniforms.
Silver phoenix.
Project Guardian.
"They're heading for the relay room," Adrian whispered.
Lucas checked his watch.
The countdown reached:
01:11
"We're almost out of time."
Adrian studied the hallway.
"There."
A narrow ventilation passage.
"We can bypass them."
Brooks looked doubtful.
"It'll be tight."
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
"I'll go first."
She nodded.
One by one they crawled through the narrow steel duct.
The metal groaned beneath their weight.
Warm air rushed past.
Far below...
Guardian operatives hurried through the corridors completely unaware they were being followed from above.
Lucas finally reached a ventilation grate overlooking a large underground communications center.
Rows of servers hummed.
Government technicians lay handcuffed on the floor.
Guardian had already taken control.
At the center stood a familiar face.
Chairman Leonard Whitmore.
Evelyn's eyes widened.
"He escaped."
Brooks cursed.
"He was never in custody."
Whitmore calmly watched the enormous central display.
The upload had reached ninety-two percent.
His expression remained calm.
One of his men approached.
"Sir."
"The demolition charges are ready."
Whitmore nodded.
"When the upload reaches ninety-five..."
"Destroy everything."
Lucas looked toward Adrian.
"You were right."
Adrian's eyes scanned the room rapidly.
"There."
He pointed toward a maintenance ladder descending behind the relay equipment.
"We can reach the main server without crossing the floor."
Brooks smiled faintly.
"Let's hope you're still good at your old job."
They descended silently.
Every movement carefully timed.
The countdown reached:
00:43
Lucas plugged William Carter's recovered hard drive into the relay console.
Nothing happened.
He frowned.
"No access."
Whitmore heard the keyboard.
His head snapped around.
"There!"
Chaos exploded.
Guardian operatives opened fire.
Federal officers returned fire.
The communications center erupted into gunfire and flying sparks.
Brooks pulled Evelyn behind a steel generator.
Lucas desperately typed command after command.
"Come on..."
The server refused every authentication code.
Adrian suddenly pushed Lucas aside.
"I remember."
He placed both hands on the keyboard.
His fingers moved instinctively.
Commands he didn't consciously remember writing years earlier flowed effortlessly.
One password.
Rejected.
Second password.
Rejected.
Then...
He stopped.
Closed his eyes.
Another buried memory surfaced.
A child's voice.
Jonathan Vale.
"If you ever lose your way..."
"...remember where you began."
Adrian's eyes opened.
He typed one final phrase.
JONATHANNEVERLEFT
The console unlocked.
Lucas smiled.
"You're in!"
The upload surged forward again.
Ninety-three percent.
Ninety-four.
Whitmore screamed,
"Stop him!"
He reached for a pistol.
Before he could fire—
A single shot echoed through the communications center.
Whitmore staggered.
His weapon fell.
Everyone turned.
Margaret Carter stood at the entrance.
Smoke drifted from the barrel of her pistol.
"I missed your shoulder on purpose last time."
She calmly reloaded.
"I wasn't planning to miss twice."
Whitmore collapsed, clutching his wounded leg.
Federal agents rushed forward and arrested him.
The upload reached ninety-eight percent.
Lucas looked relieved.
Then...
Every monitor suddenly flashed red.
A new warning appeared.
PRIMARY SERVER OFFLINE
Lucas frowned.
"No..."
Brooks looked over.
"What happened?"
Lucas's face turned pale.
"The relay wasn't the real target."
Adrian immediately understood.
"The estate."
Lucas nodded.
"They're destroying the original server."
The upload froze at:
98%
Two percent remained.
Two percent containing William Carter's final encrypted archive.
Without it...
The names of the remaining members of the Inner Circle would never be revealed.
Adrian looked directly at Evelyn.
His voice was calm.
"We still have one chance."
She looked back.
"How?"
He took her hand.
"Because the original server..."
"...was never beneath the estate."
Lucas stared at him.
"What?"
Adrian slowly smiled.
"My father lied."
He looked at William Carter's leather briefcase.
May you like
"The last server..."
"...has been traveling with us since we left the bank."
