Page 100 of Heart of Dawn
I carried on searching the bodies, getting used to the stink and the heat. I went back over the poor people I’d already inspected, checking every single pocket, every fold.
Where are you, keycard?
Something under the grated floor caught my eye. A brief flash of shiny plastic. I crouched to get a better look, wishing for a flashlight.
“Look at this,” I said.
Miko crouched beside me—the real one—placing his hand on my lower back.
“Can you see that?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He curled his fingers into the grating and pulled it hard. It popped up at one end, some screws pinging free. It gave him enough space to slide his hand in to fish the object out.
Miko held the small, white fob between thumb and forefinger. “Interesting. James?”
The beta took it from him, looking it over. “This might be it.”
Pretty please,I thought.
James pressed the fob to the panel. The lights turned green, a speaker crackling.
“Welcome to the Wilkins Facility,” a robotic, female voice spoke. “Your name is Henry Hayes. May I please have your password? Please say, ‘My answer is’ and state the correct password.”
Miko touched the back of my neck, making me quiver. “Henry Hayes. He’s the guy who made the deal with my parents.”
“Any ideas on potential passwords?” James asked.
Miko folded his arms. “No. Shit.”
I didn’t remember seeing a Henry Hayes amongst the dead. I checked again with Paige, not trusting my memory.
We found no sign of a Henry.
“What do you remember about him?” James asked.
“Other than being a prick? Nothing that jumps out other than him running away from this place with my dad.” He paused for half a beat, sorrow passing over his features. “What about Project Dawn?”
James tried it.
“Negative,” the voice answered. “Please try again. You have two more attempts before the required reset of the fob.”
“Of course we do,” Cate groaned.
James tapped his chin with his middle finger, as if in thought and flipping the door off at the same time.
“There’s always his name,” Paige offered. “The most obvious choice is always the last one, you know?”
James nodded. “Maybe.”
“I reckon back to front—Hayes, Henry,” she added.
“Or maybe it’s a numerical code,” James said. “The letters of his name correspond to their place in the alphabet. A being one, Z being twenty-six. What do you think?”
“I think you need to be sure,” Cate answered.
“We can’t be sure, darling heart.”
“I know,” she answered sadly. “I’ll keep looking for clues.”
