Chapter 10 The Fire at Guardian
Emily was already running before anyone else left the room.
Marcus chased after her.
Daniel grabbed his coat and shouted to the investigators.
"Call the fire department."
"Nobody enters that building until it's declared safe."
Michael hurried toward the elevator with Claire close behind.
Emily's father struggled to keep up.
Snow covered the roads as four vehicles raced toward Guardian headquarters.
The fifteen minute drive felt endless.
No one spoke.
No one needed to.
Every person inside those cars understood one thing.
If the offline archive was destroyed, years of evidence could disappear forever.
Red lights flashed against the falling snow long before they reached the building.
Fire engines surrounded Guardian's headquarters.
Smoke poured from the roof.
Firefighters stretched hoses across the frozen parking lot.
Emily jumped from the car before it had fully stopped.
A fire captain immediately intercepted her.
"You can't go in."
"I'm Emily Carter."
"I own this building."
The captain recognized her name.
"Ms. Carter, the fire started on the third floor."
"The archive room is in the basement."
Emily looked toward Marcus.
"Our offline servers."
Marcus's face had gone pale.
"They're behind a reinforced security door."
The captain nodded.
"That's probably the only reason the basement hasn't burned."
Emily pointed toward the smoke.
"Has anyone been inside?"
The captain hesitated.
"We found one employee."
Her heart stopped.
"Who?"
"He's alive."
"He suffered smoke inhalation."
"They're treating him in the ambulance."
Emily ran across the parking lot.
Inside the ambulance sat Frank Dawson.
Guardian's sixty eight year old night security guard.
He smiled weakly when he saw her.
"Boss..."
Emily took his hand.
"What happened?"
Frank coughed several times before answering.
"I saw someone."
"When?"
"About forty minutes ago."
"He had a maintenance uniform."
Marcus frowned.
"We don't have maintenance staff working tonight."
Frank nodded.
"I knew something felt wrong."
"So I followed him."
Emily leaned closer.
"What did you see?"
"He went straight to the server room."
"He already had a key."
Daniel had arrived behind them.
"You saw his face?"
Frank slowly nodded.
"I've never seen him before."
"But..."
He reached into his jacket pocket.
"I took this."
Frank handed Emily a small security badge.
It had fallen from the intruder's pocket during the struggle.
Emily turned it over.
The badge belonged to Children's Memorial Hospital.
The photograph had been burned around the edges.
But the name remained readable.
Ethan Cross
Daniel immediately photographed it.
"We'll identify him."
Frank shook his head.
"There's more."
"He wasn't alone."
Emily felt another chill.
"How many?"
"I only saw two."
"But I heard another voice outside."
Daniel looked toward the burning building.
"They came prepared."
A firefighter approached the captain.
"The flames are under control."
"The basement survived."
Emily looked up.
"What about the archive room?"
"We're checking now."
Minutes later another firefighter emerged carrying a black metal case.
Marcus recognized it instantly.
"The backup server."
Emily's shoulders relaxed.
"We have it."
The firefighter carefully placed the case on the ground.
"The room was untouched."
Daniel smiled.
"Then they failed."
Marcus suddenly frowned.
"Wait."
He examined the electronic lock.
"The security seal is broken."
Emily looked closer.
Someone had opened the server cabinet before the fire.
Marcus slowly unlocked the case.
The hard drives were still inside.
Everything appeared normal.
Then he froze.
"No..."
Emily looked at him.
"What is it?"
He removed one drive.
Then another.
Then another.
Each one had been carefully opened.
The storage disks inside had been removed.
Only the empty metal shells remained.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
"They stole the data."
Marcus nodded.
"They knew exactly what they were looking for."
Emily felt hope slipping away.
Years of records.
Inspection reports.
Financial documents.
Everything had vanished.
Frank suddenly spoke from the ambulance.
"They didn't take everything."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What do you mean?"
He smiled weakly.
"I stopped them."
Emily hurried back.
"Frank."
"What are you talking about?"
He reached beneath the blanket covering his legs.
Slowly he pulled out a small portable hard drive.
"I knew the server room."
"I knew which backup mattered most."
"So while they fought me..."
"I switched them."
Marcus grabbed the drive carefully.
His eyes widened.
"This..."
He looked at Emily.
"This is the executive archive."
Daniel frowned.
"What's inside?"
Marcus smiled for the first time that night.
"Everything."
"Financial records."
"Inspection histories."
"Email backups."
"Private board communications."
"Nothing was stored anywhere else."
The intruders had stolen empty drives.
The real archive had survived.
Emily hugged Frank gently.
"You saved all of it."
The old security guard laughed softly.
"I've worked for you eleven years."
"I finally figured I'd earn my paycheck."
Everyone smiled.
For the first time since the investigation began, they had real hope.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered immediately.
His expression changed within seconds.
"What?"
He turned away from the others.
"Are you certain?"
A long pause followed.
Finally he lowered the phone.
Emily knew before he spoke.
"What happened?"
Daniel looked directly at her.
"We identified Ethan Cross."
"And?"
"He isn't a maintenance worker."
"He was a police detective."
Everyone fell silent.
"A detective?"
Daniel nodded.
"He resigned six months ago."
"What happened?"
"He accepted a position..."
Daniel paused.
"...as Head of Security for Richard Holloway."
The silence became unbearable.
Richard Holloway hadn't simply bribed contractors.
He had hired former law enforcement officers.
People who knew investigations.
People who knew evidence.
People who knew exactly how to erase the truth.
Marcus looked down at the portable hard drive.
"If Holloway realizes this survived..."
Daniel finished the sentence for him.
"He won't stop until he gets it."
At that exact moment, a single rifle shot echoed across the snowy parking lot.
Glass exploded behind them.
The portable hard drive flew from Marcus's hands and crashed onto the frozen pavement.
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Someone was no longer trying to destroy the evidence.
Someone was now trying to eliminate the people protecting it.
