Chapter 13 - Arthur’s Final Move
Seven minutes remained.
Michael worked desperately at the door controls.
Nathaniel searched the room for another exit.
Preston stood beside the central console.
Emily stared at the pendant.
Her father had hidden it for seventeen years.
Would he really create a system that allowed one key to control everything?
No.
Arthur Harrington trusted carefully.
Especially at the end.
Emily remembered the letter.
Preston believes Meridian is money.
He is wrong.
Then another memory surfaced.
Her father’s childhood riddles.
The safest place is where everyone looks but nobody sees.
Emily looked at the pendant.
Maybe the obvious key was not the real key.
She removed it.
Preston stepped closer.
“What are you doing?”
“Thinking like my father.”
She opened the pendant.
Removed the chip.
Then snapped the gold casing in half.
A tiny strip of paper fell out.
Nathaniel picked it up.
Three words.
CATHERINE KNOWS FIRST.
Emily stared.
Catherine.
Her mother.
“What does that mean?”
Nathaniel looked around.
“Did your mother work on Meridian?”
Emily suddenly remembered.
Her mother had been a mathematician before Emily was born.
Arthur rarely discussed it.
“She designed encryption systems.”
Preston looked stunned.
“My mother thought Thomas created Meridian security.”
Emily shook her head.
“Apparently not.”
Nathaniel examined the central console.
There were two biometric readers.
One fingerprint.
One optical.
“Catherine knows first.”
Emily whispered.
“My mother built the lock.”
The timer reached five minutes.
Michael shouted,
“Whatever you’re doing, do it quickly.”
Emily inserted the chip.
The console activated.
IDENTITY REQUIRED.
Emily placed her finger on the reader.
EMILY CATHERINE HARRINGTON.
AUTHORIZED.
A second message appeared.
SECOND FOUNDER AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED.
Preston stared.
“Second founder?”
Emily looked at him.
“Thomas.”
Preston approached.
“I’m his son.”
He placed his finger on the reader.
PRESTON THOMAS VALE.
DESCENDANT VERIFIED.
Emily stared.
The system required both families.
Arthur had not stolen Meridian.
He had protected it jointly.
The screen changed.
ARCHIVAL MESSAGE AVAILABLE.
PLAY?
Emily pressed yes.
Arthur appeared.
Younger.
Healthier.
Beside him stood another man.
Thomas Vale.
Preston stopped breathing.
His father.
Thomas spoke first.
“If our children are watching this, then one of us probably made a mess.”
Despite everything, Emily almost laughed.
Arthur smiled on screen.
“That would probably be Thomas.”
Thomas shoved him playfully.
The recording was decades old.
They were friends.
Not enemies.
Arthur spoke.
“Meridian belongs equally to the Harrington and Vale family trusts.”
Preston looked toward the speakers.
Margaret said nothing.
Thomas continued.
“If either of us attempts to seize unilateral control, the system locks.”
Emily looked at Preston.
Arthur continued.
“Our families are partners.”
“Not rivals.”
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“And Margaret, if you’re watching this someday, stop telling people Arthur stole my company.”
Preston’s face went white.
Emily stared.
The recording continued.
Thomas laughed.
“I lost my shares because I gambled against Arthur’s advice.”
“I signed them over voluntarily to cover my debts.”
“I was angry.”
“I blamed him.”
“But he didn’t steal from me.”
Margaret screamed through the speakers.
“Turn it off!”
Preston stared upward.
“Mother.”
The timer continued.
3:12.
Thomas spoke again.
“If Preston ever hears a different version, son, I’m sorry.”
“I was ashamed.”
“I told your mother things that weren’t true.”
Preston closed his eyes.
His entire life had been built on a lie.
But Emily did not forget what he had done.
Pain explained people.
It did not excuse them.
The video ended.
A new prompt appeared.
EMERGENCY OVERRIDE AVAILABLE.
REQUIRES BOTH FAMILY LINES.
Emily looked at Preston.
“Do it.”
He placed his hand on the reader.
Emily did the same.
SYSTEM OVERRIDE.
The timer stopped at 1:03.
The doors unlocked.
Federal agents flooded inside.
Margaret screamed through the speakers.
“Preston!”
He looked toward the camera.
For once, he did not obey.
“Goodbye, Mother.”
Agents located Margaret twenty minutes later in an upper control room.
Lawson was with her.
Both were arrested.
Charles Whitmore survived.
Emily emerged from Meridian Station shortly before sunrise.
Rain had stopped.
Preston walked behind her in handcuffs.
He looked at her.
“Emily.”
She stopped.
Nathaniel remained nearby.
Preston swallowed.
“I did love you.”
Emily studied the man she had married.
Maybe part of him had.
Once.
It no longer mattered.
“You loved what loving me gave you.”
He looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily touched her belly.
“No.”
“You’re sorry you lost.”
Federal agents led him away.
Emily watched until the vehicle disappeared.
Nathaniel approached.
“It’s over.”
Emily looked toward the sunrise.
“No.”
He frowned.
Emily held up the Meridian chip.
“My father left one more archival file.”
“What file?”
Emily looked at him.
“One marked Catherine.”
May you like
Their mother.
And according to the timestamp, Arthur had accessed it the night before he died.
