Chapter 5 - Where Lantern Ended
The coordinates led to an abandoned naval communications facility near the Chesapeake Bay.
I knew the place before Daniel finished entering the numbers.
Station Grayhaven.
Officially closed eight years earlier.
Unofficially, it had supported Task Force Lantern.
Thomas knew the place because he'd supervised personnel there before retirement.
And Marcus knew it because Harbor had been tested there.
Everything was circling back.
"We call the police," Margaret said.
"We already have federal security coming," Daniel replied.
I checked my phone.
Maya had sent three messages.
STAY THERE.
TEAM FIVE MINUTES OUT.
DO NOT FOLLOW.
I hated all three.
Thomas had been taken.
Maybe voluntarily.
Maybe not.
I called Maya.
"We have a hostage situation."
"Who?"
"Thomas Mercer."
"How do you know?"
I read the note.
Maya swore.
"Claire, do not go to Grayhaven."
"He asked for me."
"That's exactly why you don't go."
"If Marcus wants something—"
"He wants you."
"Then Thomas is leverage."
Silence.
Maya knew I was right.
"Federal team is four minutes away."
"I'll wait."
"Promise me."
"I'll wait four minutes."
I hung up.
Nathan looked at me.
"You're going."
"Not alone."
"I'm coming."
"No."
He laughed bitterly.
"You still think I'm involved."
"I think someone used your credentials for a reason."
"Then let me help prove it."
I looked at him.
Hours earlier, Nathan had mocked me across a dinner table.
Now his arrogance was gone.
For the first time, I saw the sailor underneath.
Imperfect.
Proud.
But not cowardly.
"Follow instructions," I said.
He nodded.
"No improvising."
"Understood."
"And if I tell you to leave—"
"I leave."
"Good."
Daniel stepped forward.
"I'm coming too."
"No."
His expression hardened.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Turn into Commander Bennett and forget you're Claire."
I stared at him.
He lowered his voice.
"Thomas is my family."
"So are you."
"And you're mine."
That hurt because it was true.
Ethan intervened.
"Daniel stays."
Daniel turned.
"Excuse me?"
"Marcus knows Claire's operational habits. He knows mine. He may know Nathan's training. He doesn't know yours."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning you're useful here."
Daniel looked offended until Ethan continued.
"Someone needs to coordinate with the federal team and protect everyone in this house."
Daniel looked at me.
I nodded.
Finally he agreed.
The federal team arrived three minutes later.
Maya Torres stepped through the door wearing civilian clothes beneath a tactical jacket.
She hugged me once.
Hard.
Then slapped Ethan across the face.
Everyone stared.
Ethan touched his cheek.
"I deserved that."
"Six years?"
"I had reasons."
"You had a phone."
"Not one I could use."
She slapped him again.
"That one was for the memorial."
Then she hugged him.
For a moment, nobody said anything.
Maya pulled away.
"Now explain."
We gave her everything.
The photograph.
The letter.
Helen's recording.
The coordinates.
Marcus.
Thomas.
Maya listened.
Then she said, "Grayhaven is still federal property."
"Can we access it?"
"Yes."
"Then let's go."
"No."
"Maya."
"We do this properly."
She assigned a response team.
I wasn't officially part of it.
That lasted approximately thirty seconds.
"You know Lantern better than anyone alive except Ethan," she admitted.
"And Marcus knows that."
"Exactly."
"So use me."
Maya looked furious because she knew I was right.
Forty minutes later, we approached Grayhaven.
No lights.
Concrete buildings.
Old communications towers.
The Chesapeake beyond them.
Ethan rode beside me.
Nathan was in the second vehicle.
"Do you trust him?" Ethan asked.
"Nathan?"
"Yes."
"I trust that he wants to fix what he started tonight."
"That's not what I asked."
"No."
Ethan smiled faintly.
"Still Valkyrie."
"Still annoying."
The vehicles stopped.
Maya's team spread out.
We entered through the western service corridor.
Grayhaven smelled exactly as I remembered.
Dust.
Metal.
Old electrical insulation.
Some memories don't fade.
They wait.
A speaker crackled overhead.
Then Marcus's voice.
"Welcome home, Valkyrie."
Maya looked upward.
"He's watching."
Marcus continued.
"Bring Claire to Control Room Three."
Ethan whispered, "Trap."
"Obviously."
"Could be wired."
"Probably."
Nathan's voice came through our earpieces.
"Movement east corridor."
"Hold position," Maya ordered.
Then Thomas's voice came through the speaker.
"Claire, don't come in."
A sound followed.
A blow.
My jaw tightened.
Marcus spoke again.
"Control Room Three."
We moved.
Not directly.
Ethan knew an old maintenance passage.
We reached the back of Control Room Three.
Through a narrow window, I saw Thomas tied to a chair.
Alive.
Marcus stood beside him.
And there was someone else.
A woman.
Mid-fifties.
Gray suit.
Maya stared.
"Evelyn Shaw."
The fourth Harbor key holder.
Robert.
Marcus.
Helen.
Evelyn.
I whispered, "So Marcus isn't working alone."
Ethan's expression darkened.
"No."
Inside the room, Evelyn placed a metal case on the table.
Marcus looked nervous.
Interesting.
He wasn't in charge.
Evelyn was.
Thomas said something we couldn't hear.
Evelyn slapped him.
I moved.
Ethan caught my arm.
"Wait."
She opened the case.
Inside were paper files.
Old.
Physical.
No hacking required.
Ethan's face changed.
"The original Lantern orders."
I understood.
Those documents could reveal who had authorized the compromised extraction.
Maya whispered, "We need those intact."
Then Evelyn turned toward the hidden camera in the room.
She smiled directly at us.
"Claire."
We froze.
She knew exactly where we were.
"Your team always did prefer the maintenance corridor."
Red lights illuminated the hallway.
Doors slammed behind us.
Locked.
Ethan looked toward the ceiling.
"She trapped us."
Evelyn's voice continued.
"Six years ago, you ruined everything by surviving."
My blood went cold.
Thomas shouted from inside the room.
"Don't listen to her!"
Evelyn walked behind him.
Then she said something that made even Ethan stare at me.
"Ask Claire why Lantern's extraction coordinates were changed."
Thomas looked toward the hidden window.
May you like
Evelyn smiled.
"Because the authorization came from Valkyrie herself."
