Chapter 14 - Harbor Wakes Up
Claire’s phone restarted by itself.
A black screen appeared.
Then three white circles.
One labeled LEGAL.
One FINANCE.
One SECURITY.
Legal showed Walter Bennett.
Finance showed Ryan Mercer.
Security showed Claire Bennett.
Beneath them appeared a fourth line.
ADMINISTRATOR: ACTIVE.
Samuel stood so quickly the guard outside opened the door.
“No.”
Claire looked at him.
“What?”
“There should be no administrator.”
Walter took the phone.
“You said Charles divided power.”
“He did.”
“Then what is this?”
Samuel stared.
“Someone rebuilt the system.”
Nora stepped closer.
“Can you trace it?”
Samuel laughed bitterly.
“If I could, I wouldn’t be sitting in prison.”
Claire’s phone displayed another message.
TRANSFER WINDOW OPENS 09:00 TOMORROW.
Then:
ALL THREE REQUIRED.
Walter gave the phone back.
“We shut it down.”
Samuel shook his head.
“You can’t.”
“Watch me.”
“Walter.”
Samuel leaned forward.
“Harbor is integrated into dozens of financial and legal systems.”
“Shutting it down incorrectly could freeze legitimate infrastructure.”
Claire asked, “Hospitals?”
“Possibly.”
“Emergency services?”
“Possibly.”
Walter cursed.
Nora looked at Samuel.
“So we need the administrator.”
“Yes.”
Claire had another thought.
“Marcus.”
Samuel shook his head.
“Not smart enough.”
Walter almost laughed.
Claire frowned.
“Daniel?”
“Maybe.”
“Michael?”
Walter stiffened.
Samuel watched him.
“You still trust your son?”
Walter did not answer.
Claire did.
“I don’t trust anyone.”
Samuel smiled.
“Good.”
Walter looked hurt.
Claire softened slightly.
“That includes myself.”
The drive back from Blackridge was quiet.
Ryan called twice.
Claire did not answer until the third time.
“What?”
His voice sounded tense.
“We have a problem.”
“We have several.”
“This one is new.”
“What happened?”
“My trust account changed.”
Claire sat upright.
“How?”
“The eleven million is gone.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Walter overheard.
“Ask for transaction time.”
Claire did.
Ryan answered.
“Eleven twenty-three.”
Samuel’s message had appeared at eleven twenty-two.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Harbor had moved the money automatically.
“Anything else?”
Ryan hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I received a file.”
Claire looked at Walter.
“What file?”
“A video.”
“Of what?”
“My mother.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Send it.”
Seconds later, the video arrived.
Katherine Mercer appeared on screen.
She looked ill.
Older than in the photographs.
But alert.
“If Ryan sees this, Harbor has activated.”
Claire looked at Walter.
The recording continued.
“Ryan, I am sorry.”
“You inherited finance because I had no one else.”
Ryan’s voice crackled through Claire’s phone.
“No pressure.”
Katherine continued.
“Do not let Thomas convince you to give him access.”
Claire looked at Walter.
“Where is Thomas?”
Ryan went silent.
“Ryan?”
“He left this morning.”
“Where?”
“He said he had a meeting.”
Claire’s pulse quickened.
“With who?”
“I don’t know.”
Walter grabbed his phone.
Thomas did not answer.
Katherine’s video continued.
“And never let Michael Bennett near the administrator console.”
Claire froze.
Her father.
Katherine looked directly into the camera.
“Michael believes Harbor can be controlled.”
“He is wrong.”
“He always believed that.”
Claire stopped the video.
Walter’s face had gone pale.
“Where is Michael?”
Nobody knew.
Nora immediately contacted her office.
Evelyn checked every secure location.
Michael Bennett had vanished.
Claire thought of the warehouse.
The laptop.
The files.
The detailed knowledge.
Was Michael the administrator?
Her phone buzzed.
A new Harbor alert appeared.
ADMINISTRATOR REQUESTING TRANSFER AUTHORITY.
Two options.
APPROVE.
DENY.
Walter stared.
“Deny.”
Claire did not touch the screen.
“Why?”
“Because your mother warned you.”
“Katherine warned Ryan.”
“Same difference.”
“No.”
Claire stared at the request.
“We keep reacting to warnings from dead people who only knew part of the story.”
Walter looked frustrated.
“What are you suggesting?”
“That we find out who’s asking.”
She tapped DETAILS.
A location appeared.
Mercer Tower.
Thomas’s company headquarters.
Ryan spoke through the phone.
“My dad went there.”
Claire looked at Walter.
“And maybe Michael did too.”
Nora ordered agents toward the building.
Claire, Walter, and Evelyn arrived twenty minutes later.
Mercer Tower’s lobby was empty.
Too empty.
The elevators were disabled.
They climbed fourteen flights.
At the executive floor, one conference room door stood open.
Thomas sat inside.
His hands rested on the table.
Michael stood near the window.
Neither looked surprised.
Claire entered.
“What are you doing?”
Michael turned.
“Trying to save Harbor.”
Katherine’s warning echoed in Claire’s mind.
Thomas looked at Walter.
“We found the administrator.”
Walter stared at Michael.
Claire whispered, “You?”
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
Then someone stepped from the adjoining office.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
Walter looked as if he had seen a ghost.
The woman was in her late fifties.
Gray streaks ran through dark hair.
A familiar necklace hung around her neck.
Claire had seen that necklace in hundreds of old photographs.
The woman looked at her.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
Claire could not move.
May you like
Her mother smiled.
Laura Bennett was alive.
