Chapter 10 - Emily stepped into the room.Nobody moved.
David looked at his daughter.
"What do you remember?"
Emily was trembling.
"Everything."
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"Emily..."
"No, Mom."
Her voice was stronger now.
"You kept lying."
David stepped closer.
"Emily."
She looked at him.
"When I was six, Dad disappeared."
David nodded.
"You told me he died."
Rebecca looked down.
Emily continued.
"Then one night, a man came to my bedroom."
David felt a cold wave pass through him.
"Who?"
Emily swallowed.
"You."
David froze.
"Me?"
"You looked different."
"What did I say?"
"You told me not to be afraid."
Emily's voice cracked.
"You told me your name wasn't David."
David closed his eyes.
"You knew."
"I was six."
"But you remembered."
"Not until tonight."
David sat down.
Emily continued.
"You gave me a box."
"The red box."
She nodded.
"You told me to hide it."
Rebecca stepped closer.
"What else did he say?"
Emily looked at her.
"He said if anyone ever asked about the box..."
She paused.
"I should tell them it was gone."
David looked at Mark.
"What was inside?"
Emily shook her head.
"I don't know."
David looked toward the red box.
"We already opened it."
Emily stared at him.
"That isn't the real box."
Silence.
"What?"
Emily walked toward the fireplace.
She reached behind a stone panel.
Pulled out another container.
A red box.
Smaller.
Older.
David stared.
"What the hell?"
Emily looked at her father.
"The man who came to my room gave me two."
Rebecca's face went white.
"Two?"
Emily nodded.
"One to distract them."
"And the other?"
Emily opened the second box.
Inside was a small black drive.
No documents.
No photographs.
Just the drive.
Mark stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Emily whispered:
"The original Ledger."
David stared.
"How do you know?"
"Because I remember."
A strange sound came from the drive.
A tiny mechanical click.
The laptop beside them activated automatically.
A password prompt appeared.
EMILY'S BIRTHDAY.
David looked at her.
She typed.
The screen unlocked.
Files appeared.
Thousands.
Names.
Addresses.
Bank accounts.
Government files.
Photographs.
Videos.
David scrolled.
Then stopped.
One folder was labeled:
SUBJECT TRANSFER PROGRAM.
Inside were photographs of people who had been declared dead.
But they weren't dead.
They had been given new identities.
New lives.
New families.
David found one photograph.
His own.
He looked at the timestamp.
Sixteen years ago.
Beneath it:
TRANSFER COMPLETE.
Then another file.
REBECCA WHITMORE.
Status:
HANDLER.
David stared.
Rebecca's face went white.
"You were assigned to me?"
"At first."
"You weren't my wife."
"I was supposed to monitor you."
"And then?"
"I fell in love with you."
David's expression softened for one second.
Then he saw another file.
MARK CARTER.
Status:
OBSERVER.
He turned toward Mark.
Mark didn't move.
"You were assigned to watch me."
"Yes."
David's voice hardened.
"How long?"
"Twelve years."
"And Thomas?"
"Extraction asset."
David laughed without humor.
"My whole family was part of this."
Rebecca whispered:
"Not Emily."
David looked back at the screen.
A final file opened.
PROJECT ENDGAME.
Target:
DAVID WHITMORE.
Status:
ACTIVE.
Scheduled termination:
TOMORROW.
David stared.
"Tomorrow?"
Emily whispered:
"What does that mean?"
A new line appeared beneath it.
TERMINATION LOCATION:
THE FUNERAL HOME.
David felt his stomach drop.
"The funeral home."
Mark looked at the screen.
"They're planning another funeral."
David understood.
The first funeral was not the end.
It was a test.
Someone wanted to know whether he would survive.
And tomorrow, they would finish the job.
David closed the laptop.
"We go back."
Rebecca shook her head.
"No."
David looked at her.
"Why?"
She whispered:
"Because the funeral home isn't the target."
"Then what is?"
She looked at Emily.
"The person they're trying to kill..."
A pause.
"...is not you."
David stared.
"Who?"
May you like
Rebecca pointed at the screen.
"Emily."
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