Chapter 7 - My Father's NameNobody spoke for several seconds.
Then General Hale turned to my father.
“Why?”
My father looked sick.
“I don't know.”
“You signed military supply contracts during that period.”
“I was a civilian contractor.”
“You had access to movement records.”
“Yes.”
“You had contact with Rourke.”
“Yes.”
“You were in the same command network as Night Lantern.”
“Yes.”
General Hale stepped closer.
“Then how does your name end up on Evan Hale's list?”
My father looked at me.
“I don't know.”
I wanted to believe him.
But something inside me had already cracked.
For ten years I had believed my father was simply distant.
Not cruel.
Not proud.
Just incapable of understanding what war had done to me.
Now I wondered whether he had known more than he admitted.
Chase stepped toward him.
“Dad.”
My father looked at him.
“Did you know about the operation?”
“No.”
“Did you know Mara was there?”
“No.”
“Did you know Evan came here?”
Silence.
Vivian answered for him.
“Yes.”
My father stared at her.
“When?”
“Two weeks before the mission.”
“You never told me.”
“You weren't supposed to know.”
“Why?”
Vivian looked toward me.
“Because Evan thought you were being watched.”
General Hale's eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“No.”
She began crying.
“I was told that if I spoke, Mara would be killed.”
I walked toward her.
“Who told you?”
Vivian's mouth opened.
No words came.
Then the lights in the house flickered.
Everyone froze.
General Hale drew his weapon.
A small red light appeared on the black data drive.
Once.
Twice.
Then it began blinking rapidly.
Chase whispered,
“What is that?”
I reached for it.
General Hale stopped me.
“Don't touch it.”
The drive emitted a quiet electronic tone.
Then a tiny screen on the side lit up.
A countdown.
09:59
My blood ran cold.
“What happens at zero?”
Nobody knew.
General Hale took the drive to a shielded case.
The countdown continued.
09:31
I stared at it.
“This was designed to activate after the letter was opened.”
Chase looked at me.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
General Hale called a technician.
The countdown continued.
08:12
The technician connected the drive to a secure system.
A folder appeared.
Seven names.
One red.
Six gray.
The red name was at the top.
I stared at it.
Then I recognized it.
My stomach dropped.
It wasn't my father's name.
It wasn't Chase's.
It wasn't Vivian's.
It was:
MARA ELLIS
My father whispered,
“No.”
The general looked at me.
“That's impossible.”
The technician shook his head.
“It isn't a designation.”
“What is it?”
“A warning.”
I stepped closer.
Under my name was a second line.
SUBJECT DESIGNATED AS CARRIER.
“Carrier of what?”
The technician opened another file.
A map appeared.
A series of coordinates.
Then a photograph.
A warehouse.
Then another.
A grave.
Then another photograph.
A man standing beside a military vehicle.
He turned toward the camera.
I knew him.
Everyone in the room knew him.
General William Rourke.
Retired commander.
Decorated war hero.
The man who had given Chase his first commendation.
The man whose signature appeared on the official Night Lantern report.
But the photograph wasn't from ten years ago.
The timestamp read:
THREE WEEKS AGO.
My heart stopped.
“He's alive.”
General Hale stared at the screen.
“We know.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“He's been missing for six months.”
The screen changed.
A video opened.
Rourke sat at a table in a dark room.
He looked older.
Tired.
But calm.
He stared directly into the camera.
Then he spoke.
“Mara.”
My whole body went cold.
“If you're watching this, the first lie has already been exposed.”
He leaned forward.
“The problem is…”
His eyes narrowed.
“…you still don't know what you were carrying.”
The video ended.
The countdown hit zero.
May you like
The drive erased itself.
And every phone in the room began ringing at once.
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