Chapter 2 - The Program That Didn't Exist
Jonathan crossed the office in three strides.
The handle would not turn.
Lila stood behind him.
"Is that normal?"
"No."
His computer flashed red.
SECURITY HOLD - AUTHORIZED BY CLAIRE DONOVAN.
Jonathan called Claire back.
No answer.
He tried his assistant.
Straight to voicemail.
Then the intercom clicked.
"Mr. Mercer, corporate security is outside."
Jonathan looked at Lila.
"Put the bracelet away."
"Why?"
"Because I don't know who is coming through that door."
She slid it into her coat.
He opened a locked cabinet beneath a painting.
Inside was an old black laptop.
Lila stared.
"You keep a secret computer in your wall?"
"You learn things after enough hostile takeovers."
He powered it on.
No network connection.
No company software.
He typed a code.
The office door unlocked.
Jonathan grabbed his coat.
"Service elevator."
The main doors opened behind them.
Three security officers entered.
"Mr. Mercer."
Jonathan did not slow.
"Fire drill."
"Sir, Ms. Donovan issued—"
"I know what she issued."
They reached the private corridor.
One officer stepped in front of Lila.
Jonathan stopped.
The temperature in his voice dropped.
"Move."
The officer did.
The elevator took them to the underground garage.
Jonathan drove himself.
Lila sat in silence until the tower disappeared behind them.
"Do you trust Claire?"
"Yesterday? Yes."
"Today?"
He checked the mirror.
"Today is young."
They drove to an old brick building in River North.
No company logo.
Jonathan unlocked a second-floor archive room.
Dust.
Metal shelves.
Bankers boxes from the years before Brooks-Mercer moved everything digital.
He found one marked HEALTH RISK - 2008.
Lila watched him open it.
Inside were five folders.
Four had employee names.
The fifth said BM-17.
Jonathan read.
His face tightened.
"What?"
"This was supposed to monitor workers exposed during a solvent containment failure."
"At your company?"
"At one of our South Side plants."
"How bad?"
"I was told minor. Five employees. No civilian exposure."
Lila folded her arms.
"My mom wasn't an employee."
Jonathan pulled another file.
HART, ANNA.
His hands stopped.
"She was."
Lila stepped closer.
Payroll subcontractor.
Night shift.
Temporary access.
Exposure classification.
BM-17.
"She never told me she worked for you."
"Not for us directly."
"That sounds like lawyer language."
"It is."
He hated himself for saying it.
Lila read the dates.
"This started before I met you."
"Yes."
"Then why was she still wearing the bracelet two years after the program ended?"
Jonathan flipped pages.
No answer.
Then Lila saw a note.
REACTIVATED - RISK SUBJECT.
AUTHORIZED R.M.
"Who's R.M.?"
Jonathan's jaw tightened.
"Richard Mercer."
"Family?"
"My uncle."
The archive phone rang.
Jonathan stared.
Almost nobody knew the number.
He answered.
Claire.
"Where are you?"
"Why did you lock me in my office?"
"To keep security from taking the bracelet."
Jonathan went silent.
Claire continued.
"Richard still has access to the BM triggers. He knows Anna Hart's family contacted you."
Lila's pulse jumped.
Jonathan said, "How?"
"Because the system flagged her name twelve years ago."
"What system?"
Claire exhaled.
"The surveillance program your father told you was shut down."
Jonathan gripped the phone.
"Claire."
She whispered:
May you like
"Jonathan, there has been a file on Lila since she was ten years old."
CUT.
