Chapter 11 - What Chase Did That NightI woke inside a moving vehicle.
My hands were restrained.
My head throbbed.
The man in the black coat sat across from me.
He removed his gloves.
“Do you know who I am?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“You've seen me before.”
I studied his face.
Nothing.
He slid a photograph across the seat.
My mother.
Young.
Standing beside General Rourke.
And beside them…
My father.
But the date was before my parents met.
I stared at it.
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
The man leaned closer.
“The woman you called your mother had another identity.”
“Who are you?”
“The person who kept her alive.”
I laughed.
“You kidnapped me.”
“No.”
He pointed toward the restraints.
“I rescued you from the people who are trying to kill you.”
“Then why am I tied up?”
“Because you have a habit of running toward danger.”
I looked out the window.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To the place where Night Lantern began.”
The vehicle stopped.
He opened the door.
We were outside an abandoned airfield.
A helicopter sat in the distance.
I looked at him.
“You're the Archivist.”
He nodded.
“My name isn't important.”
“Then why tell me anything?”
“Because you've already remembered the key.”
“What key?”
He looked at my left hand.
“The one hidden in your memories.”
I stared at him.
He continued.
“Evan Hale knew someone had betrayed the operation.”
“Yes.”
“But he didn't know who.”
“Yes.”
“He trusted Chase.”
I froze.
“Why?”
“Because Chase had already discovered the leak.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Then why did Evan tell General Hale not to trust him?”
The Archivist smiled.
“Because Chase was compromised.”
I shook my head.
“By whom?”
“Your father.”
“No.”
“Not willingly.”
He showed me a recording.
Chase, ten years younger.
Standing inside an interrogation room.
An officer sat across from him.
The image was grainy.
Chase looked terrified.
The officer slid a photograph across the table.
A photograph of me.
Then the officer said:
“Help us recover the drive, or Mara dies.”
I stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
Chase whispered:
“I'll do whatever you want.”
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
“He never betrayed us.”
The Archivist nodded.
“He betrayed himself.”
“What did he do?”
“He gave them your location.”
My knees weakened.
“That caused the ambush.”
“Yes.”
“And Evan knew.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Evan still trust him?”
“Because Chase went back.”
I stared at him.
“Back where?”
“Into the fire.”
The Archivist showed me another recording.
A helicopter burning.
Chase running toward it.
He pulled one soldier out.
Then another.
Then another.
The image zoomed in.
Evan was trapped inside.
Chase tried to reach him.
A missile struck.
The screen shook.
Chase was thrown backward.
He screamed.
The recording ended.
I closed my eyes.
Suddenly I remembered.
That night.
Chase crawling toward me.
Blood on his face.
“Don't leave him!”
I had shouted.
“I won't!”
Then the fire.
The smoke.
The collapse.
Evan had looked at me.
Not afraid.
Almost peaceful.
And he had whispered:
“Take them home.”
The Archivist said quietly,
“You did.”
I opened my eyes.
“Then why did Chase become the hero?”
“Because after the operation, someone changed the report.”
“Rourke.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the report couldn't reveal the breach.”
I stared at him.
“And Chase agreed to the lie.”
“He thought it would protect you.”
The anger in me collapsed into something else.
Pain.
For ten years, I had believed Chase wanted the glory.
Maybe he had hated himself every time somebody congratulated him.
Maybe every award had felt like a sentence.
“Where is he now?”
The Archivist looked toward the horizon.
“He came after you.”
“Where?”
“I told him where you'd be.”
My heart jumped.
“You're working with him?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I am testing him.”
Then the hangar door opened.
Chase stepped inside.
His face was bruised.
Blood covered his shirt.
He looked at me.
And whispered:
“Mara, don't trust him.”
May you like
The Archivist smiled.
Because that was exactly what he wanted.
