Chapter 6 - The Father I Was Never Supposed To Find
The message stayed on the screen.
"Ask your mother why she let your father disappear..."
I read it again.
And again.
But the words didn't change.
My father.
A person who had never existed in my life.
A person whose name my mother never spoke.
A person I had stopped wondering about years ago because silence was easier than disappointment.
Now, in less than twenty-four hours, I had discovered that my mother was not just a former Air Force pilot.
She had secrets.
She had hidden missions.
She had people searching for her.
And apparently...
She had hidden my father.
I slowly turned toward my mother.
She was standing near the window.
Completely still.
I had never seen her look like that before.
Not scared.
Not angry.
Broken.
"Mom."
She didn't answer.
"Is it true?"
Her eyes closed.
A few seconds passed.
Then she whispered:
"Yes."
One word.
But it felt heavier than everything else I had learned.
My chest tightened.
"You knew he was alive?"
My mother looked at me.
"No."
Her answer came immediately.
"I didn't know."
"Then why did the message say you let him disappear?"
She looked at Daniel.
Then Admiral Carter.
Both men looked away.
That hurt more than anything.
Because it meant they knew something.
Everyone knew something.
Except me.
"I need the truth."
My voice was quieter now.
But stronger.
"My whole life, I thought I just had a father who left."
My mother looked down.
"I thought maybe he didn't want me."
Her expression changed.
"Lucas..."
"But now you're telling me he didn't leave?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"Then what happened?"
Nobody answered.
I looked at Daniel.
"You knew him."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"Who was he?"
Daniel looked at my mother.
She gave the smallest nod.
Like she was finally allowing the past to return.
"His name was Michael Miller."
My heart stopped.
"Miller?"
I had never even known his first name.
My mother sat down.
"Your father was also part of the Air Force."
I stared at her.
"You told me he was gone."
"I told you what I believed."
That sentence confused me.
"What does that mean?"
She looked at the flash drive.
"The last time I saw your father, he was alive."
The room became silent.
"Then what happened?"
My mother's eyes filled with memories.
"Michael discovered something."
"Something about Phoenix?"
She nodded.
Daniel stepped closer.
"The Phoenix program wasn't just a mission."
I looked at him.
"Then what was it?"
He hesitated.
"A network."
"Of what?"
"People."
Admiral Carter finally spoke.
"People with access to military information."
I frowned.
"Are you saying someone inside the Air Force was dangerous?"
Nobody answered directly.
But I knew.
They didn't need to.
My mother looked at the laptop.
"Your father found evidence that someone was using Phoenix for something it was never created for."
"What?"
"Information."
She paused.
"Manipulation."
The word sounded impossible.
But after everything I had learned, I believed it.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
My mother's eyes moved to mine.
"Because I was afraid."
The answer shocked me.
My mother wasn't afraid of anything.
She had flown fighter jets.
She had faced situations I couldn't imagine.
But she was afraid of this.
"I thought if you knew too much, you would become a target."
"A target for who?"
The room became quiet.
Then the lights flickered.
Everyone looked toward the windows.
Daniel immediately moved.
"What was that?"
My mother stood.
"Everyone stay away from the windows."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"Lucas, now."
Her voice was the same voice she probably used during missions.
No emotion.
Only command.
Admiral Carter moved toward the front door.
Daniel checked the hallway.
I stood there frozen.
Because suddenly, my mother's secret life wasn't just a story.
It was happening around me.
A few seconds later, everything became normal again.
No broken glass.
No footsteps.
Nothing.
But my mother didn't relax.
"Someone knows we're here."
Daniel looked at her.
"I told you this would happen."
She looked angry.
"I thought we had more time."
"Time ran out the moment Lucas opened the letter."
I looked at them.
"So someone wanted me to find this?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
"Why?"
Nobody answered.
Then Admiral Carter picked up the flash drive.
"Because this wasn't just a message."
He looked at the device.
"It was a trigger."
My stomach tightened.
"A trigger for what?"
Before he could answer, the flash drive suddenly lit up.
Everyone stopped.
A new file appeared.
Nobody had touched anything.
The file name was simple.
LUCAS_MILLER_FINAL_MESSAGE.
My mother stepped backward.
"No."
I looked at her.
"You know what this is?"
Her face went pale.
"I thought it was destroyed."
Daniel stared at the screen.
"Rachel..."
She didn't answer.
The admiral whispered:
"Someone wanted him to see this."
I slowly moved toward the laptop.
My mother grabbed my arm.
"Lucas, don't."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
Her eyes were filled with fear.
"Because that file was created the night your father disappeared."
The room became silent.
My hand moved toward the mouse.
Nobody stopped me.
Not anymore.
I opened the file.
The screen went black.
Then a video appeared.
A man sat in a dark room.
I couldn't see his face clearly.
But I knew the voice.
I had heard it before.
On the first video.
On the phone message.
The man looked directly into the camera.
"Lucas."
My blood ran cold.
He knew my name.
"If you are watching this, then Rachel failed to keep you away from the truth."
My mother covered her mouth.
The man continued.
"Your father didn't disappear because of an enemy."
A pause.
"He disappeared because someone he trusted betrayed him."
I looked at my mother.
She looked devastated.
The video continued.
"And Lucas..."
The man leaned closer.
"You deserve to know who that person was."
The screen suddenly froze.
A loading symbol appeared.
Then a final line appeared underneath.
"IDENTITY REVEAL INCOMPLETE."
Nobody moved.
Then the laptop made a sound.
A notification.
A new file had been added.
Created seconds ago.
Everyone looked at the screen.
The file name appeared.
May you like
MICHAEL_MILLER_LOCATION...
And before anyone could open it, the front door downstairs slowly unlocked from the outside.
