Chapter 5 - The OrderThe bullet struck my father in the shoulder.
He fell backward.
Vivian screamed.
Daniel rushed toward him.
Security officers surrounded the room.
Marcus vanished behind the balcony doors.
“Don't chase him!” Admiral Reed shouted.
I was already moving.
But Reed grabbed my shoulder.
“He wanted you to follow.”
I stopped.
We stared at each other.
“You believe him?” I asked.
“I believe Marcus knows something.”
“So do I.”
Reed looked at my father.
“Question is, what?”
We approached him.
Blood soaked his jacket.
The bullet had missed his heart.
Barely.
Daniel knelt beside him.
“Dad!”
Father grabbed his wrist.
“Get out.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“Take your sister.”
My sister stepped closer.
“Why?”
Father looked at her.
For the first time, he didn't look like a billionaire.
He looked old.
Broken.
Terrified.
“Because they will come for all of you.”
I stared at him.
“Who?”
He looked at me.
“You think Victor Sloane is your enemy.”
“He is.”
“No.”
Father coughed.
“He works for someone else.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
He whispered a name.
I had never heard it.
But Admiral Reed had.
His expression changed immediately.
“Project Helix.”
Father nodded.
“What is Project Helix?”
Father closed his eyes.
“It was supposed to be a weapons program.”
“And?”
“It became something else.”
Reed stepped forward.
“Richard, tell us everything.”
Father looked at me.
Then he said the words I had spent seven years imagining.
“I ordered your deployment.”
My body went still.
“Why?”
“You found the ledger.”
“So?”
“You were going to expose everything.”
“So you wanted me dead.”
“No.”
His voice cracked.
“I wanted you scared.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You put me on a doomed ship.”
“I thought the warning would be enough.”
“The ship exploded.”
“I didn't know.”
“Seventeen sailors nearly died.”
“I didn't know.”
“You sent me into hell.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I thought you would survive.”
That sentence hurt more than I expected.
Not because it excused him.
Because it revealed how little my life had been worth to him.
I stepped closer.
“You gambled my life.”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
The answer was almost impossible to hear.
I looked away.
Admiral Reed interrupted.
“Commander, we're not finished.”
He placed another file on the table.
“This order was issued twenty-four hours before the deployment.”
I opened it.
My name.
My signature.
A deployment order I had never signed.
I looked at my father.
“You forged this.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
He swallowed.
“I don't know.”
Reed pointed to the signature.
“It's not a forgery.”
I stared.
The signature was mine.
Perfect.
Too perfect.
My stomach dropped.
“How?”
Admiral Reed answered.
“Someone had access to your biometric authorization.”
My father looked toward Daniel.
Daniel's face went pale.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He backed away.
“I didn't.”
“Didn't what?”
His breathing quickened.
“I didn't sell your authorization.”
Silence.
My father whispered.
“Daniel…”
Daniel looked at him.
“I had debts.”
I stared.
“What debts?”
He couldn't answer.
My sister spoke.
“Daniel.”
He covered his face.
“I owed Victor.”
My heart sank.
“Victor Sloane?”
Daniel nodded.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
My father closed his eyes.
Daniel looked at me.
“I didn't know what he wanted.”
“You sold him access.”
“I thought it was financial data.”
“That's what you told yourself?”
“I didn't know!”
He was crying now.
I didn't care.
“Who else?”
Daniel hesitated.
“What?”
“Who else helped?”
He looked at Vivian.
She froze.
“No.”
Daniel said nothing.
I turned toward her.
“Vivian.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“You helped them erase me.”
“I was protecting the family.”
“You lied.”
“I was told you were dangerous.”
“By whom?”
She looked at Father.
Then at Daniel.
Then finally at me.
“By the woman who raised us.”
My breath stopped.
“What woman?”
Vivian whispered.
“Grandmother.”
The room became silent.
My grandmother had died six months earlier.
At least, that was what I'd been told.
I looked at Father.
“Grandmother is dead.”
He didn't answer.
Admiral Reed did.
“Officially.”
I felt the blood leave my face.
“Where is she?”
Father stared at the floor.
Then he said:
“She isn't dead.”
And somewhere outside the estate, a phone began to ring.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
A security officer answered it.
His expression changed.
He looked directly at me.
“Commander.”
“Yes?”
“There's a woman on the line.”
“Who?”
He swallowed.
“She says she's your grandmother.”
My entire world tilted.
Then the voice came through the speaker.
“Elena.”
I froze.
“Come alone.”
May you like
The line went dead.
Then the estate lights went out.
