Chapter 6 - The Man Who Sent Me Home
Daniel let the phone ring twice.
Then he answered.
“Mercer.”
General Thomas Rourke’s voice came through calm and familiar.
“Captain. Welcome home.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
She stood completely still.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I hear you arrived early.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, sir.”
“Family happy to see you?”
Rachel mouthed, Don’t tell him anything.
Daniel said, “Surprised.”
Rourke laughed.
“I imagine so.”
Daniel had served under Rourke indirectly for four years.
Highly decorated.
Respected.
The kind of officer whose speeches made young soldiers sit straighter.
Rourke had called Daniel personally after the March ambush.
Told him not to blame himself.
Told him Lewis’s death was the cost of leadership.
Now Daniel heard every word differently.
“Sir, why did you approve my early rotation?”
A pause.
“Is that a complaint?”
“No, sir.”
“You earned it.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Silence.
Then Rourke’s tone cooled slightly.
“You’ve been home only a few hours, Captain. Maybe spend them with people who matter.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
“I intend to.”
“Good.”
The call ended.
Rachel whispered, “That was creepy.”
Daniel immediately called Pierce.
Within thirty minutes, federal agents returned.
Emma explained the missing hidden note.
Pierce looked furious.
“You concealed evidence?”
“I didn’t know it was evidence.”
“You hid a name connected to your brother’s criminal history.”
“I wrote it years later.”
Pierce rubbed his forehead.
“Everyone in this house needs to stop keeping secrets.”
Rachel raised her hand.
“I’m clean.”
Nobody laughed.
Pierce’s team examined the molding.
One technician found a partial fingerprint.
Another recovered a tiny fiber.
Daniel watched.
“Could someone have entered while Emma was away?”
“Yes.”
“Security system?”
Emma looked embarrassed.
“I stopped arming it.”
Daniel stared.
“Why?”
“You never used it.”
“I was deployed.”
“You barely used it before.”
“That’s not the defense you think it is.”
Pierce interrupted.
“We can pull access logs.”
Daniel’s alarm system recorded every disarm code.
The technician opened the account history.
Emma’s code appeared repeatedly.
Rachel’s appeared twice.
Daniel’s master code had been used three days earlier.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“I was overseas.”
Pierce looked at him.
“Who knows your code?”
“Rachel.”
She shook her head.
“I use mine.”
“Anyone else?”
Daniel thought.
Then remembered.
“Lauren.”
Emma’s face changed.
Rachel whispered, “Your ex?”
Daniel nodded.
“I gave it to her last year.”
Pierce asked, “Full name?”
“Lauren Price.”
Emma looked uneasy.
Daniel noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Emma.”
She exhaled.
“Lauren worked for the same company I did.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
“You knew that.”
“No, I knew she worked in consulting.”
“She was in government relations.”
Pierce immediately began typing.
“Did she know about your compliance concerns?”
Emma hesitated.
“She was copied on one internal meeting.”
Daniel’s pulse quickened.
“And you never thought that was relevant?”
“I didn’t know she had your alarm code.”
Pierce found Lauren’s employment record.
She had left the company two months earlier.
New employer: Rourke Strategic Advisors.
Rachel whispered, “You have got to be kidding me.”
Daniel felt sick.
General Rourke had established a private consulting network while preparing for retirement.
Lauren worked for him.
She had access to Daniel’s house.
She knew Emma.
She knew the company.
She knew the investigation.
Pierce stood.
“We need to find her.”
They called.
No answer.
Her apartment was empty.
Her vehicle was missing.
Then a camera from Daniel’s neighbor provided footage.
Three nights earlier, at 2:17 a.m., a woman entered Daniel’s house.
Even in grainy video, Daniel recognized her.
Lauren.
She stayed nine minutes.
Left carrying something small.
The missing note.
Pierce began issuing alerts.
Daniel walked onto the back porch.
Emma joined him.
For a while they said nothing.
Then Emma spoke.
“She always knew.”
“Knew what?”
“About me.”
Daniel looked at her.
Emma smiled sadly.
“Lauren hated me.”
“She didn’t hate you.”
“She absolutely did.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew I loved you.”
Daniel stared.
“She said something once.”
“When?”
“Christmas.”
“What?”
“She asked why I was always around.”
Emma looked down.
“I told her because Rachel was my best friend.”
“And?”
“She said, ‘That isn’t the reason.’”
Daniel remembered that Christmas.
Lauren had been cold afterward.
He assumed they were fighting about his upcoming deployment.
Maybe not.
Emma continued.
“I backed away after that.”
“You stopped coming around.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were dating someone.”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Emma gave him an exhausted look.
“We have covered this problem.”
Daniel laughed softly.
She smiled.
For a second, the danger receded.
Then Daniel became serious.
“I need to answer your note.”
Emma’s smile vanished.
“You don’t.”
“I do.”
“Not tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because you came home today.”
“So?”
“Because your entire world just exploded.”
“That doesn’t change—”
“It changes everything.”
Emma stepped closer.
“You’re angry. You’re grieving. You’re trying to understand whether someone you respected betrayed your unit.”
Her eyes softened.
“I will not let you confuse needing someone with loving someone.”
Daniel stared.
“And what if I already knew before today?”
Emma stopped.
“What?”
Daniel leaned against the railing.
“I thought about you overseas.”
She said nothing.
“A lot.”
“Daniel.”
“I wrote emails I never sent.”
Her lips parted.
“Why?”
“Same reason you hid notes.”
Fear.
Hope.
Timing.
He did not need to say them.
Emma looked close to tears.
“Where are they?”
“Draft folder.”
“You wrote me?”
“Seven.”
She laughed shakily.
“Seven?”
“I’m less obsessive.”
“Forty notes was over eight months.”
“Still.”
She punched his arm lightly.
Daniel caught her hand.
This time he did not release it.
They stood inches apart.
Emma whispered, “This is a terrible time.”
“Probably.”
“You haven’t slept.”
“Neither have you.”
“You’re proving my point.”
Daniel smiled.
Then his phone rang.
Pierce.
Daniel answered.
“We found Lauren.”
His expression changed.
“Where?”
Pierce’s next words erased every trace of warmth.
“At General Rourke’s house.”
Daniel tightened his grip on Emma’s hand.
Pierce continued.
“She’s dead.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“And Captain?”
Daniel waited.
“We recovered the missing note from her pocket.”
May you like
Pierce paused.
“There was something written on the back that wasn’t there before.”
