Chapter 6 - The Order With My Name on It
"No."
The word came from Ethan.
Not me.
Evelyn held up a document.
Even through the glass, I recognized the authorization format.
My name.
My identification number.
My authentication sequence.
It looked real.
"Claire didn't issue that," Ethan said.
"How do you know?"
"Because I was with her."
I remembered November 14.
The original extraction point had been abandoned after we received an authenticated emergency update.
I had relayed the new coordinates.
That much was true.
But I hadn't created the order.
I'd received it.
"She used my authentication chain," I whispered.
Ethan nodded.
"You relayed the coordinates because you believed they came from command."
"Exactly."
Evelyn's voice filled the corridor.
"History won't care about that distinction."
Maya was working on the locked door.
"She's planning to frame you."
"She already did."
Six years earlier.
She had simply never needed to use the evidence.
Until now.
Evelyn continued.
"Your call sign became a useful insurance policy, Claire."
Thomas shouted, "You're finished, Evelyn."
She smiled.
"No. I'm retiring."
Marcus looked toward her.
"What?"
That reaction mattered.
He hadn't known.
Evelyn closed the metal case.
"Marcus, untie Thomas."
Marcus hesitated.
"That wasn't the agreement."
"No."
"What are you doing?"
"Cleaning up."
Marcus backed away.
For the first time, I saw fear on his face.
Ethan whispered, "She's going to abandon him."
Maya finally opened the maintenance door.
We entered.
"Federal agents!" Maya shouted.
Everything happened quickly.
Marcus dropped to his knees.
Thomas kicked the chair backward.
Evelyn reached for the metal case.
I reached it first.
She stared at me.
Six years of questions stood between us.
"You killed them," I said.
She smiled.
"I made decisions."
"People died."
"People always die when governments make decisions."
"You sold our position."
"Don't be childish."
That sentence almost broke my restraint.
Almost.
Then I remembered Nathan at dinner.
His finger pointed at me.
His assumption that a real mission was something glamorous.
This was what real missions looked like.
Not medals.
Not stories.
Consequences that followed you home years later.
Maya cuffed Evelyn.
Ethan freed Thomas.
Marcus remained on the floor.
"It's over," Thomas said.
Evelyn laughed.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"The ledger."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
"The Harbor ledger you came looking for."
She smiled at Thomas.
"Helen didn't hide it at Grayhaven."
Thomas stared.
"Where is it?"
Evelyn looked directly at me.
"Ask Robert."
Back at the Bennett house, Daniel was with Robert.
My stomach tightened.
I grabbed my phone.
No signal inside Grayhaven.
I ran toward the exterior door.
Nathan followed.
Outside, my phone connected.
Seven missed calls.
All from Daniel.
I called.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Maya came behind us.
"What's wrong?"
"Daniel called seven times."
I opened the last voicemail.
Static.
Then Daniel's voice.
"Claire, your father-in-law found something."
A crash.
Robert shouting.
Then Daniel again.
"Someone's in the house."
The recording ended.
I called again.
Nothing.
Nathan was already moving toward the vehicle.
"Let's go."
Maya ordered two agents to transport Evelyn and Marcus.
We drove back faster than I want to remember.
Police vehicles surrounded the Bennett property.
The front door was open.
I ran inside.
"Daniel!"
No answer.
Margaret and Rebecca were safe with officers outside.
Robert was missing.
Daniel was missing.
The dining room had been torn apart.
Drawers open.
China broken.
The retirement box lay smashed on the floor.
Ethan entered behind me.
"They were looking for the ledger."
Nathan stared at the destruction.
"Where would Dad hide it?"
I remembered Helen's message.
THOMAS KNOWS THE PLACE.
Thomas entered slowly.
He looked around.
Then his eyes moved toward the American flag hanging on the dining-room wall.
"No."
He crossed the room.
Removed the flag.
Behind it was an old recessed wall safe.
Robert had apparently never known it existed.
Thomas entered four numbers.
The door opened.
Inside was a notebook.
Helen's handwriting.
The Harbor ledger.
And beside it was Daniel's wedding ring.
My heart stopped.
Nathan whispered, "Why is that there?"
I picked it up.
Fresh blood marked one edge.
Not much.
But enough.
A phone began ringing inside the safe.
Old prepaid device.
I answered.
"Daniel?"
A distorted voice replied.
"Bring the ledger."
"Who is this?"
"Midnight. Pier Seventeen."
"Let me speak to my husband."
Silence.
Then Daniel came on.
"Claire, don't—"
The line cut.
I stared at the ledger.
Thomas whispered, "Who else could be involved?"
Ethan turned toward the front door.
A black SUV was parked beyond the police perimeter.
Someone stood beside it.
Watching us.
When the figure saw me looking, he removed his sunglasses.
Robert Bennett.
May you like
Daniel's father.
And he was holding a gun.
