I couldn’t stop staring at the recorder.
The tape had ended.
The one name that could have answered everything…
Was gone.
Lucien gently took the recorder from my trembling hands.
“We’ll have experts restore it.”
I looked up.
“You think they can?”
“I don’t know.”
He was honest.
“But I know one thing.”
He brushed away a tear with his thumb.
“I’m not letting this end here.”
For the first time in hours…
I believed him.
⸻
“We have to leave.”
Damien was already checking the tunnel entrance.
“Julian won’t stay gone for long.”
Thomas nodded.
“If he escaped, he’ll bring reinforcements.”
Lucien folded the map and slipped it into his jacket.
“The lighthouse.”
He looked at me.
“We’re finishing what your mother started.”
⸻
Forty minutes later…
The tunnel opened behind the aban
