Chapter 2 - The Recording Beneath My CollarOne secret was enough to destroy a marriage. The second could destroy a corporation.When I woke, the ceiling was white.
No hospital logo.
No windows.
No machines displaying Croft Corporation branding.
I knew immediately where I was.
Keystone's underground medical facility.
Baltimore.
Probably.
The pain came seconds later.
Sharp.
Deep.
But manageable.
A woman stood beside the bed.
Dr. Mara Voss.
She was one of the few people alive who knew my real assignment.
"How bad?"
"You were lucky."
"I'm not interested in lucky."
She sighed.
"Bullet entered high left chest, missed the heart by centimeters, fractured a rib, and caused a partial pneumothorax."
"How long?"
"Six weeks before you're fully operational."
"Two."
"No."
"Three."
"No."
"Four."
She stared at me.
"You're impossible."
"I've been called worse."
Mara handed me a tablet.
"Watch."
The recording began.
My own voice.
Command, Keystone requesting immediate medevac.
Julian's voice.
You do not go over my head during my operation.
Then mine.
I'm bleeding into my chest.
His answer.
You're being dramatic.
I felt nothing.
That worried me more than anger would have.
The recording continued.
Clara's voice whispered into my ear.
Julian's been sick of you for years.
Then:
He says you make him look weak.
Then:
After you're gone, I'll take care of him.
Mara paused the video.
"That's enough."
"No."
She looked at me.
"There is more."
She restarted it.
The image shifted.
The recording from my insignia had captured not only audio but directional microphone data.
The tactical display marked voices with distance.
Julian.
Clara.
Me.
But there was another voice.
Thirty feet away.
A man.
Barely audible.
Mara increased the volume.
"Package has been isolated."
Another voice answered.
"Confirm secondary?"
The first man said:
"The husband is clear."
I stared at the screen.
"Secondary?"
Mara paused.
"That's what we're trying to determine."
The recording resumed.
Don't let Vale reach the eastern exit.
My blood ran cold.
That voice was familiar.
Not from Croft.
Not from the field.
From Keystone.
I knew the man who said it.
Deputy Director Nathan Rook.
My former superior.
"That isn't possible."
Mara said nothing.
"You told me Rook retired."
"He did."
"Then why was he on my recording?"
"We don't know."
I pushed myself upright.
Pain exploded through my chest.
Mara caught my shoulder.
"Don't."
"I need files."
"You're not going anywhere."
"Then bring me the files."
She hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
"What?"
"Your Keystone authorization was suspended."
I stared at her.
"When?"
"Forty-seven minutes after the shooting."
My mouth went dry.
"By whom?"
"Rook."
"But he's retired."
"Exactly."
A screen on the wall suddenly turned red.
SECURITY BREACH.
Mara swore.
"Get under the bed."
"I'm not hiding."
"Kalin."
I heard footsteps outside.
Fast.
Too many.
Mara pulled a weapon from beneath the desk.
The door exploded inward.
Three men entered.
Not Keystone.
Mara fired first.
Two shots.
The first attacker dropped.
The second ducked.
I grabbed the emergency IV stand and slammed it into his wrist.
His weapon fell.
Mara finished the job.
The third man disappeared around the corner.
"Who were they?"
Mara checked the corridor.
"They knew the facility."
That was impossible.
Then my phone rang.
No caller ID.
I answered.
A man's voice said:
"You're alive."
"Who is this?"
"You should ask your husband."
"About what?"
A pause.
Then:
"Arthur Croft didn't recruit you by accident."
My heartbeat accelerated.
"Who are you?"
"You've spent five years protecting his company."
"Yes."
"No."
His tone changed.
"You spent five years protecting the evidence."
The call ended.
Mara looked at me.
"What did he say?"
I told her.
She went pale.
Because she already knew.
"What evidence?"
Mara stared at the floor.
"There's a reason Arthur Croft brought Keystone into his corporation."
"Why?"
"He discovered that parts of his company were being used to move something."
"Drugs?"
"No."
"Weapons?"
"No."
"Money?"
She looked at me.
"People."
The room seemed to get colder.
"Human trafficking?"
"Not exactly."
She activated the wall screen.
A classified file appeared.
PROJECT HARBORLIGHT.
Beneath it was a list of names.
Politicians.
Defense contractors.
Foreign intelligence officers.
Judges.
Executives.
And one name near the bottom.
JULIAN CROFT.
I stared at it.
"No."
Mara whispered:
"We think your husband knew about Harborlight."
My hands curled into fists.
"You think?"
"We need proof."
I looked at the recording.
Then at Julian's face frozen on the screen.
"You have proof."
"No."
Mara shook her head.
"Not yet."
The lights went out.
Every electronic lock in the facility opened at once.
A voice came over the emergency speaker.
"Doctor Voss."
Mara grabbed her rifle.
The voice continued.
"Tell Kalin Vale that her husband has just activated the second phase."
I stared into the darkness.
"What second phase?"
The speaker crackled.
"Erasing everyone who can identify Harborlight."
Then the lights returned.
My tablet was gone.
May you like
And on the wall where it had been sitting was a single message written in black marker.
YOUR HUSBAND HAS ALREADY FILED THE DIVORCE.
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