Chapter 8 - THE TARGETI couldn't breathe.
The words on the paper were written in blue ink.
My name sat beneath them.
I looked at Hale.
“Why me?”
He read the note again.
“We don't know yet.”
Ryan sat against the wall.
For the first time in my life, he looked smaller than me.
“Maybe they wanted the case.”
“No.”
I turned toward him.
“They wanted me before the case existed in this house.”
Daniel nodded.
“She's right.”
Hale looked at him.
“What do you remember?”
Daniel hesitated.
“After the convoy attack, Caleb told me something.”
“What?”
“He said Audrey wasn't supposed to be there.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The convoy assignment changed at the last minute.”
I looked at Hale.
“That isn't in my records.”
“It may not be.”
Daniel continued.
“Caleb said someone kept asking where Audrey's vehicle was.”
My skin went cold.
“Who?”
“He didn't know.”
I remembered something.
A voice over the radio.
“Where's Cooper?”
Another voice.
“Second vehicle.”
Then gunfire.
I closed my eyes.
Suddenly another memory surfaced.
The night before the convoy.
I was in a temporary operations tent.
Someone stood beside my desk.
Richard Vane.
Impossible.
He wasn't military.
He should never have been there.
He leaned down and whispered:
“You shouldn't be on that convoy.”
I opened my eyes.
“I saw him.”
Everyone turned.
“Who?”
“Vane.”
Ryan stood.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
Hale asked:
“What did he say?”
“He told me not to go.”
Dad covered his face.
I looked at him.
“You knew.”
He lowered his hands.
“I suspected.”
“That's not enough.”
He stared at me.
“I knew Vane had influence over the route. I did not know he planned an attack.”
Ryan snapped:
“Dad!”
“What?”
“You're going to tell her everything now?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell her why you protected me.”
Dad looked at Ryan.
“Because you were twenty-nine.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“And she was what?”
“Twenty-six.”
“She had the Army.”
Dad's voice cracked.
“You were my son.”
I stared at him.
“And I wasn't?”
Dad looked at me.
“You were the strong one.”
That sentence hurt more than I expected.
I stepped away.
“That's what everyone said.”
Outside, another car pulled up.
This time there were no gunshots.
A woman in a gray suit entered with two investigators.
She introduced herself as Special Agent Mara Ellis.
She held a folder.
“We found Caleb Morris.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“He's alive.”
I gripped the table.
“Take me to him.”
Ellis shook her head.
“You're not ready for what he has to say.”
“Try me.”
She opened the folder.
Caleb had recorded a statement three weeks earlier.
The video began.
A gaunt man appeared on screen.
Older.
Scarred.
But alive.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then he said:
“Audrey, if you're watching this, there's something you were never told.”
He paused.
“The man who ordered the convoy attack wasn't Richard Vane.”
My blood went cold.
Caleb continued.
“It was someone who was standing beside you that morning.”
The screen flickered.
May you like
Then his voice came through one final time.
“Someone from your own family.”
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