Chapter 8 - The Man Behind My Father's Secret
The screen went black.
For a moment, nobody moved.
The name that had appeared before the archive disappeared was still burned into my mind.
Richard Mitchell.
My father.
He was the person trying to erase the evidence.
The person who had spent the entire day pretending he was protecting me.
The person who looked at my scars like they were something to hide.
And now...
He was trying to destroy the truth.
"Sarah."
Daniel's voice pulled me back.
I looked around the archive room.
The warning lights were still flashing.
The security system continued counting down.
Files were disappearing.
Years of information.
Years of hidden decisions.
All vanishing in front of us.
Admiral Cross stepped toward the terminal.
"Can you stop the deletion?"
The security officer shook his head.
"Not from here."
"Why?"
"Because the command is coming from an authorized source."
Everyone knew what that meant.
Someone with access.
Someone trusted.
Someone who had permission to erase what others couldn't.
I stared at the screen.
My father.
The same man who told me he couldn't walk me down the aisle because of my scars.
The same man who claimed he was protecting me.
The same man who was now protecting himself.
I felt something inside me change.
For years, I had wondered why my father couldn't accept who I became.
I thought maybe my service made him uncomfortable.
Maybe my scars reminded him of pain.
Maybe he didn't know how to handle seeing his daughter hurt.
But now I understood.
The scars were never the problem.
The scars were proof.
Proof that I survived.
Proof that I remembered.
Proof that I was still here.
And that was what frightened him.
"Find him."
Admiral Cross's voice was calm.
The security officer looked up.
"Admiral?"
"Find Richard Mitchell."
The officer hesitated.
"He left the chapel."
"I know."
Her eyes remained on the screen.
"But he didn't leave the truth behind."
The officer immediately started tracking.
I stood there silently.
Because part of me still wanted to believe there was an explanation.
A reason.
Something that could make all of this less painful.
That was the hardest part.
Betrayal was easier when the person was a stranger.
It was easier when there was no history.
No childhood memories.
No moments you cherished.
My father wasn't just a name in a file.
He was the man who taught me how to hold a baseball bat.
The man who stayed awake with me during thunderstorms.
The man who told me I could become anything.
And somehow...
He became the person who tried to erase the most important parts of my life.
Davis walked closer.
"Sarah."
I looked at him.
"There is something else."
I almost laughed.
Because every time someone said those words, my life changed.
"What now?"
He looked uncomfortable.
"Your father wasn't the only one involved."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
He glanced at Admiral Cross.
She nodded slightly.
Davis continued.
"When I pulled you from the wreckage, I found something."
My eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"A piece of equipment."
I waited.
"It wasn't yours."
The room became quiet.
"What kind of equipment?"
Davis looked at the floor.
"A recording device."
My heartbeat increased.
"You found a recording?"
He nodded.
"But I didn't know what was on it."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
His expression changed.
"Because someone came to the hospital before I could."
"Who?"
He looked directly at me.
"Your father."
The answer hurt.
Even though I expected it.
"What did he do?"
Davis took a slow breath.
"He took it."
The silence afterward was unbearable.
My father had not just hidden information.
He had removed it.
He had controlled what survived.
What disappeared.
What I was allowed to know.
Admiral Cross turned toward me.
"Sarah, there is something you need to understand."
I looked at her.
"The investigation after the explosion was not designed to find out what happened."
My stomach tightened.
"Then what was it designed to do?"
She answered without hesitation.
"To make sure nobody looked deeper."
The words stayed with me.
Because suddenly everything connected.
The missing reports.
The changed records.
The people who told me not to trust my own memories.
The way my father avoided certain questions.
The way he looked at me after I returned home.
He wasn't ashamed of my scars.
He was afraid of what those scars represented.
A witness.
A survivor.
A person who could expose everything.
The security officer suddenly spoke.
"Admiral."
Everyone turned.
"I found the location."
"Of Richard Mitchell?"
He nodded.
"No."
He looked nervous.
"Of the person who initiated the deletion."
The screen displayed a location.
A private office inside the naval records building.
My heart stopped.
"That's impossible."
Admiral Cross looked at the screen.
"Why?"
The officer swallowed.
"Because that office belongs to someone who should not have access anymore."
The room became silent.
"Who?"
The officer looked at me.
Then at the screen.
"Colonel Thomas Reed."
My chest tightened.
Again.
That name.
The man connected to everything.
The man my father met.
The man who changed the mission.
The man whose name appeared in every hidden file.
Davis stepped back.
"No."
I looked at him.
"What?"
His face had lost color.
"I saw him."
"When?"
Davis looked at the floor.
"The day of the explosion."
Everyone turned.
"You said he wasn't there."
Davis shook his head.
"I said I didn't see him on the official record."
My eyes narrowed.
"Why would you lie?"
His expression broke.
"Because I was ordered to."
The confession changed the room.
Admiral Cross stepped forward.
"By who?"
Davis looked at me.
And I already knew.
But I needed to hear it.
"Richard Mitchell."
The words hurt.
Not because they surprised me.
Because they confirmed what I didn't want to accept.
My father wasn't caught in the middle.
He was involved.
The security officer interrupted.
"Admiral."
We looked back at the screen.
The archive had stopped deleting.
A new file had appeared.
The title was different.
Not a report.
Not an investigation.
A personal message.
Created today.
The timestamp showed:
Five minutes ago.
The creator was unknown.
Admiral Cross opened it carefully.
The screen displayed a video.
Everyone gathered around.
A man appeared.
Older.
Tired.
His face was partially hidden by shadows.
But I recognized him immediately.
Colonel Thomas Reed.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Sarah."
My breathing stopped.
"I know you found the archive."
Nobody spoke.
Reed continued.
"I know Cross is with you."
Admiral Cross's expression changed.
He knew.
He knew exactly what was happening.
Reed looked down.
"I also know your father ran."
A pause.
Then he said the words that made my blood turn cold.
"But your father was never the person who started this."
The video froze.
A final line appeared.
A name.
Someone I had trusted my entire life.
Someone who had stood beside my family.
May you like
Someone who had been protecting the secret from the beginning.
The screen revealed the identity of the person who ordered the original mission change.
