Chapter 9 - REBECCA’S ACCESS
Rebecca did inherit Nolan Price’s access.
Temporarily.
Three months during Gray shutdown.
She had never told me because I never asked.
I had been gone.
That did not mean she flagged Lily.
Logs were weak from that era.
Modern Hawthorne tag had been created using a credential derived from a legacy certificate.
Could trace to Rebecca’s administrative chain.
Could also trace to cloned keys.
She immediately requested independent review outside her office.
That was the correct response.
It did not prove innocence.
It increased trust slightly.
Then she told me something she had hidden for nineteen years.
Nolan Price contacted her the night Anna died.
Before police called me.
“How did he know?”
“He said Sentinel security notified Gray because the truck belonged to a contractor connected to Lantern.”
Possible.
“What did he tell you?”
“Secure Mirror.”
“Why?”
“He believed accident might be operational.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew from the beginning it might not be random.”
“I knew it was possible.”
“And you let me believe accident?”
“We had no proof.”
“You had suspicion.”
“You had a six week old daughter and had just watched your wife die.”
“That was my decision.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca’s voice broke.
“And I made it for you anyway.”
Silence.
There are betrayals done from love.
They remain betrayals.
“What happened to Mirror?”
“We fragmented access.”
“My Node 7 key.”
“Yes.”
“Nolan?”
“Root coordination.”
“Voss?”
“Oversight escrow.”
“Your key?”
“Recovery authorization.”
Four parts.
No one person could reconstruct.
Then Nolan died twelve years ago.
His root component supposedly destroyed.
If someone rebuilt it, they could access Mirror.
Maybe Meridian had.
Or wanted my Node to complete.
Then independent audit of Rebecca’s old credentials found one anomaly.
A recovery certificate issued eighteen years ago.
After Gray dissolved.
Signed by Rebecca’s root authority.
She denied.
Destination:
Hawthorne Systems Lab.
Malcolm Voss’s office.
That could explain how Hawthorne acquired Ghost identifier.
Who issued?
Audit log says RSLOAN.
Could be her.
Could be stolen.
Then Rebecca remembered one event.
Her hardware token went missing for six hours during Gray shutdown.
She reported.
Security found it in conference room.
No evidence tampering.
Maybe it was cloned.
Who had access?
Nolan Price.
Malcolm Voss.
Security contractors.
Sentinel Meridian.
Again.
We were circling.
Then Lily’s attacker Tyler requested to cooperate through attorney.
Not because conscience awakened.
His father’s company received federal preservation orders.
Tyler was scared.
We agreed to listen.
He admitted Voss approached him three weeks before assault.
Actually, not Voss directly.
Meridian senior student coordinator.
Ethan.
Ethan said Maya stole donor information.
Tyler’s job:
Get card.
No violence.
Why Tyler?
His father’s company handled private server where footage later moved.
Tyler could ensure the party environment.
Did his father know?
Tyler said no.
Maybe.
Ethan escalated because Lily insulted him.
Brandon restrained her.
Tyler searched.
Then older man entered.
Was it Voss?
Tyler hesitated.
“No.”
Lily thought gray hair and ring.
Who?
“Campus security chief Aaron Pike.”
Pike had gray hair.
Did he wear Gray ring?
Photo.
Yes.
Black circle.
Silver slash.
Another former Gray person?
Rebecca searched.
Aaron Pike.
Former Sentinel Meridian contractor assigned to Gray facilities.
Not federal employee.
Security.
He could have intercepted Anna’s packet.
He could have accessed tokens.
He could have known Ghost systems.
Now he controlled campus security.
And he moved assault footage to Whitmore server.
The network narrowed.
Pike was outside the room that night?
Tyler said yes.
He entered after beating started.
Said:
“Where is Walker’s device?”
Why would he expect Lily to have my old phone?
Maybe not physical device.
Maybe key material.
He thought Maya’s card could unlock it.
Tyler said:
“Pike told us nobody would get in trouble.”
There.
Cover promise.
Ethan and Brandon believed families protected.
Tyler believed campus security planned whole thing.
Different layers.
Pike disappeared from campus hours after my phone activated.
Vehicle found at airport.
No record of flight.
Then Rebecca’s team located a storage unit rented by Pike.
Inside:
Old Gray equipment.
Courier uniforms.
Sentinel Meridian badges.
A photocopy of Anna’s Packet B receipt.
And one photograph.
Pike standing beside Nolan Price.
May you like
Two days after Anna died.
Continue to the next part: Campus security chief Aaron Pike was connected to the missing packet Anna tried to send Rebecca nineteen years earlier.
