Chapter 20 - The Open Door
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It was past midnight when Hale and Vivian finally went to sleep in the guest rooms of the safehouse.
I couldn't sleep. The adrenaline was still humming through my veins, mixed with the quiet, devastating grief of mourning a life that had never actually existed.
I walked into the small, sterile bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was bruised, exhausted, and burned. But I was alive.
I walked back into the main bedroom. My overnight bag, which Vivian had hastily packed for me at the hotel, sat on the bed.
I reached inside to grab my phone charger.
My fingers brushed against something hard and plastic at the bottom of the canvas bag. Something I hadn't packed.
I frowned, pulling it out.
It was a cheap, black burner phone. Exactly like the ones we had found in Ryan's hidden safe.
My blood ran completely cold. How did this get in my bag? Vivian packed it. Hale’s team carried it. Nobody else had touched it.
Before I could even process the breach in security, the plastic phone vibrated in my palm.
The screen lit up in the dark room. Unknown Caller.
My breath caught in my throat. My hands shook so violently I almost dropped the device. I pressed the green accept button and slowly lifted the phone to my ear.
"Hello?" I whispered.
The same refined, chilling voice from Ryan's office floated through the speaker.
"Hello, Claire."
I backed away from the bed, my eyes darting toward the locked bedroom door. "How did you get this phone in my bag?"
The Architect let out a soft, amused chuckle. "You did very well today, Claire. You dismantled Grant's sloppy crew with remarkable efficiency. Julian was getting careless. He let his ego compromise the mission."
"Who are you?" I demanded, pressing my back against the wall.
"I'm the man who cleans up the messes," the voice said smoothly. "And you, Claire, are a very expensive mess. Do you really think Julian was the only operative I had inside your life?"
My heart stopped.
"Check the locks on the safehouse, Claire," the Architect whispered. "Sleep tight."
The line clicked dead.
I dropped the phone. It clattered against the hardwood floor.
I ran to the bedroom door and threw it open. The hallway was completely dark.
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"Vivian!" I screamed into the silence. "Agent Hale!"
No one answered. The only sound in the house was the slow, deliberate creak of the front door swinging open.
