Chapter 1 - The Christmas I Wasn't Invited To
My daughter whispered into the phone, “Mom, please don't come for Christmas.”
Colonel Rebecca Vance stopped beside her command desk and stared at the personnel folder in her hand.
A handwritten number had been added beneath her former husband's name.
12:03.
Rebecca suddenly knew this wasn't just about Christmas.
Three days earlier, she would have laughed if anyone had told her that a family dinner could hurt more than anything she had experienced in uniform.
She had spent twenty-one years learning how to absorb bad news without showing it.
She had delivered casualty notifications.
She had sat across from young officers whose careers had ended with a single medical report.
She had stood inside rooms where one wrong decision could affect hundreds of lives.
But nothing in her training had prepared her for hearing hesitation in her daughter's voice.
“Mom?”
Rebecca tightened her grip on her cellphone.
“I'm here, Emily.”
Emily Vance was twenty-six and normally spoke quickly when nervous. That afternoon, however, every sentence came carefully.
“Dad and Lauren are hosting this year.”
Rebecca already knew that.
Her former husband, Daniel Vance, had married Lauren Mercer eighteen months earlier.
Rebecca had never blamed Lauren for the divorce. There had been no affair, no dramatic betrayal. Rebecca and Daniel had simply spent too many years pretending that love could survive indefinitely on postponed vacations, missed anniversaries, military transfers, and promises that next year would be easier.
Eventually Daniel had wanted a life Rebecca could not give him.
Rebecca had signed the papers.
Daniel had remarried.
They had tried to remain civilized.
“What about it?” Rebecca asked.
Emily inhaled.
“Lauren's parents are coming. Dad's sister is coming. Jason and the kids too.”
Rebecca waited.
“Dad's wife will be there,” Emily finally said. “We want her to feel like she truly belongs with the family.”
The sentence landed quietly.
That somehow made it worse.
Rebecca stared through the glass wall of her office at soldiers moving between workstations.
Christmas decorations had appeared around the operations floor during the previous week. Someone had wrapped garland around a support column. A young lieutenant had put a ridiculous Santa hat on a printer.
Rebecca had planned to leave the base on Christmas Eve.
She had bought Emily a silver bracelet.
She had bought Daniel's grandchildren books.
She had even purchased Lauren a bottle of perfume after spending twenty minutes asking a saleswoman what constituted an appropriate gift for your ex-husband's new wife.
Now the presents sat inside her apartment.
“Mom?” Emily said.
Rebecca forced her voice steady.
“You want me to stay away.”
“It isn't like that.”
It was exactly like that.
But Rebecca had spent too much of Emily's childhood leaving for deployments. She would not make her daughter feel guilty for wanting peace.
“It's okay.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Emily sounded relieved.
That hurt more than the request.
“Thank you, Mom.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
“You too.”
The call ended.
Rebecca remained still for several seconds.
Then she opened her schedule.
Christmas Eve: OFF DUTY.
Christmas Day: OFF DUTY.
She picked up the desk phone.
“Major Collins?”
“Yes, ma'am?”
“Who's covering Christmas overnight?”
“Ramirez volunteered.”
“Give it to me.”
There was silence.
“Colonel?”
“You heard me.”
“Ma'am, you've worked the last four Christmas rotations.”
“Then I'm experienced.”
Collins hesitated.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Rebecca hung up.
That was how Colonel Rebecca Vance returned to the base on Christmas Eve while everyone else drove home.
By 9:00 p.m., the command center had settled into holiday quiet.
Sergeant Mark Ellis sat at a workstation behind her. Captain Noah Briggs occupied another station farther left.
Someone had brought cookies.
Rebecca ignored them.
She worked.
At 10:17, Emily sent a photograph.
Everyone stood around Daniel's Christmas tree.
Daniel was smiling.
Lauren had one arm around Emily.
Rebecca stared at the picture longer than she intended.
Then she typed:
Beautiful. Merry Christmas.
She did not mention that she had recognized the ornaments.
Half of them had once belonged to her.
At 11:40 p.m., Sergeant Ellis approached.
“Ma'am?”
“Yes?”
“We're doing coffee.”
“I'm fine.”
“You've said that six times tonight.”
Rebecca looked at him.
Ellis immediately straightened.
“Coffee would be great, Colonel.”
“Smart man.”
He smiled and disappeared.
At 11:58, Rebecca returned to the operations floor.
The room was illuminated mostly by computer screens and Christmas lights.
Snow pressed softly against the windows.
Rebecca sat down.
Midnight arrived without ceremony.
“Merry Christmas,” Briggs called.
Several soldiers repeated it.
Rebecca smiled.
“Merry Christmas.”
12:01.
A secure communications indicator flashed.
Briggs leaned toward his screen.
His expression changed.
“Colonel?”
Rebecca turned.
“What?”
“I've got an unusual routing request.”
“From where?”
Briggs hesitated.
“Pentagon.”
Rebecca stood.
“Send it to my station.”
He typed.
Nothing appeared.
Instead, the secure line began processing something automatically.
12:02.
Ellis returned with coffee.
“What's happening?”
“Not sure.”
Rebecca walked toward Briggs.
“Source authentication?”
“Valid.”
“Priority?”
Briggs swallowed.
“Executive.”
That made Rebecca stop.
Executive-level traffic did not arrive casually at midnight on Christmas.
“Recipient?”
“That's the strange part.”
“What?”
Briggs turned the monitor slightly.
Rebecca saw a name.
DANIEL VANCE.
Her former husband.
For several seconds she simply stared.
“That's impossible.”
Ellis looked between them.
“Your Daniel Vance?”
Rebecca didn't answer.
Daniel had never served in government.
He owned Vance Precision Systems, a midsize engineering company outside Arlington that manufactured industrial navigation components.
Successful?
Yes.
Pentagon-level executive contact?
No.
Rebecca leaned closer.
“Open routing metadata.”
Briggs tried.
ACCESS RESTRICTED.
Rebecca felt something cold move through her.
Then her personal phone rang.
The time displayed:
12:03 A.M.
EMILY.
Rebecca answered immediately.
“Emily?”
Her daughter was crying.
Not ordinary crying.
She was struggling to breathe.
“Mom.”
Rebecca's military instincts took over.
“Slow down. Tell me what happened.”
“Men came to the house.”
“What men?”
“They showed Dad identification.”
“What identification?”
“I don't know. Federal. Dad looked at it and went white.”
Rebecca looked at Briggs's monitor.
Daniel's name remained there.
“Where is your father now?”
“He's in his office with them.”
“Is Lauren there?”
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
“I think so.”
“Emily, listen carefully. Don't go into that office.”
“Mom...”
“What?”
“Why did the Pentagon just contact Dad?”
Rebecca looked around the command center.
Ellis had stopped moving.
Briggs was staring at his screen.
The Christmas music playing quietly from someone's workstation suddenly seemed obscene.
“I don't know.”
A notification appeared.
Briggs leaned closer.
“Colonel.”
Rebecca raised a finger.
“Emily, stay on the phone.”
“Mom, Dad just came out.”
“What is he doing?”
“He's looking for something.”
“Emily—”
“He opened the cabinet.”
Rebecca heard movement.
Then Daniel's voice somewhere behind Emily.
“Where is it?”
A second voice answered.
Rebecca couldn't make out the words.
Emily whispered, “Mom, he's scared.”
Rebecca's pulse accelerated.
“Emily, go upstairs.”
“Why?”
“Do it.”
Emily moved.
Rebecca heard footsteps.
Then another sound.
A door opening.
Emily gasped.
“What?”
“There's a man standing upstairs.”
Rebecca went cold.
“Does he have a weapon?”
“No. He just... he knows my name.”
“Emily, give him the phone.”
“Mom—”
“Now.”
There was movement.
A male voice came through.
“Colonel Vance?”
Rebecca straightened.
“Who is this?”
“Your daughter is safe.”
“That wasn't my question.”
The man paused.
“My name is Special Agent Aaron Cole.”
“Agency?”
Another pause.
“Defense Criminal Investigative Service.”
Rebecca looked toward Briggs.
He heard it.
His face changed.
“Why are you in my former husband's home?”
“I can't discuss that on an unsecured line.”
“You're talking to a colonel standing inside a secure operations center.”
“I know exactly where you're standing.”
Rebecca's eyes narrowed.
“How?”
Cole ignored the question.
“Colonel, Daniel Vance possesses something the Department of Defense has been trying to locate for eleven years.”
Rebecca forgot to breathe.
“What?”
“I can't say.”
“Then why call me?”
“I didn't.”
Rebecca stared at the phone.
“What?”
“You called us.”
“No, I didn't.”
Silence.
Rebecca looked at Briggs's screen.
The secure Pentagon notification changed.
A file appeared.
VANCE, REBECCA A.
Her own name.
“Colonel?” Briggs said.
Rebecca approached the monitor.
The file opened without anyone touching the keyboard.
Inside was an old personnel photograph.
Rebecca recognized herself immediately.
She was thirty-two.
The photograph had been taken before a deployment eleven years earlier.
Underneath it were three words:
PROJECT NIGHTGLASS — ACTIVE.
Rebecca felt the room disappear around her.
She had never heard of Project Nightglass.
“Cole,” she said slowly, “what is Nightglass?”
The agent didn't answer.
Instead, Daniel's voice suddenly came through Emily's phone.
“Rebecca?”
She froze.
Daniel sounded terrified.
“I'm here.”
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“I should have told you years ago.”
“Told me what?”
Another voice interrupted.
Daniel said something away from the phone.
Then he returned.
“Rebecca, do you remember Christmas eleven years ago?”
“Yes.”
“You were deployed.”
“Yes.”
“And you thought I was angry because you couldn't come home.”
Rebecca gripped the desk.
“Daniel, what does this have to do with anything?”
“You weren't sent overseas because of the deployment.”
The command center seemed to become completely silent.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel's breathing shook.
“That assignment was created to get you out of the country.”
Rebecca stared at her younger face on the monitor.
“By whom?”
Daniel whispered two words.
“The Pentagon.”
The secure printer behind Briggs suddenly activated.
One sheet emerged.
Then another.
Rebecca walked toward it.
The first page contained Daniel's photograph.
The second contained Emily's.
The third page contained a photograph Rebecca had never seen.
A man in civilian clothes stood beside Daniel outside a government building.
A date was printed beneath it.
DECEMBER 25 — ELEVEN YEARS AGO.
Rebecca turned the page over.
Someone had written one sentence across the back.
IF REBECCA VANCE EVER LEARNS WHAT HAPPENED THAT CHRISTMAS, NIGHTGLASS MUST BE ACTIVATED.
Rebecca slowly lifted her eyes.
Across the command center, a secure door clicked.
The handle began turning.
May you like
Nobody on Rebecca's team had authorized it.
Someone was coming inside.
