Chapter 6 - The Last Lie
We found my mother because Martin made one mistake.
He used Harrison's old corporate security network.
Ryan knew it better than he did.
The car stopped at an abandoned Dawson Strategic research facility thirty miles west of the city.
By the time Cole's team surrounded it, Harrison was demanding to go inside.
"No," I said.
"That's my wife."
"And Martin wants you emotional."
"I don't care."
"I do."
He stared at me.
Despite everything, he was still my father.
And despite everything, I wasn't going to watch him die.
"I'll bring her out."
His voice broke.
"Alyssa."
"I'll bring her out."
I entered through the main research corridor with Cole covering another access point.
Martin was waiting in the old testing chamber.
My mother sat in a chair.
She wasn't tied.
That surprised me.
Martin stood beside her.
No weapon visible.
"Alyssa."
"Step away from her."
Elaine stood.
"I'm okay."
"Come to me."
Martin didn't stop her.
My mother crossed the room.
I moved her behind me.
"Why take her?"
"I didn't."
My mother whispered, "He's telling the truth."
I turned.
"What?"
"I went with him."
I stared at her.
"Why?"
"Because he said he'd tell me everything."
Martin smiled.
"Elaine always was the brave one."
"Don't."
He looked at me.
"You think I'm the villain."
"You sabotaged Lantern."
"Yes."
The admission stunned me.
"Why?"
"Because it should never have existed."
"Three soldiers died."
His face changed.
"I know."
"You murdered them."
"No."
"You cut the component."
"To stop the test."
"During the test?"
"Before."
I frowned.
Martin explained.
He had discovered Lantern contained a hidden surveillance capability Everett planned to deploy without proper oversight.
Martin sabotaged the prototype to force a cancellation.
The system was supposed to fail during startup.
Nobody should have been near it.
But Everett accelerated the schedule.
The live test began twelve hours early.
Martin didn't know.
Three men died.
Emily nearly did.
"You could have confessed."
"And gone to prison."
"Yes."
He laughed bitterly.
"You're very good at saying that when it's someone else's life."
"I've sent people to prison."
"And you've sent soldiers into danger."
"With accountability."
"Really?"
His smile disappeared.
"That's what Everett taught you to believe."
I refused to let him redirect me.
"You stayed close to my family."
"Because Harrison had evidence."
"The prototype."
"Yes."
"You paid him?"
"No."
"Then who did?"
"Everett."
"Why?"
"To keep Harrison quiet."
"Why did you help erase me?"
Martin looked surprised.
"I didn't."
"The letter?"
"What letter?"
My mother stepped forward.
"The letter saying Alyssa was a security risk."
Martin shook his head.
"That wasn't me."
I felt something shift.
If Everett hadn't written it—
"Who did?"
My mother looked at me.
"I did."
For several seconds, nobody moved.
"You?"
Tears filled her eyes.
"I wrote it."
"Why?"
"Because Everett came to our house."
My chest tightened.
"He threatened you?"
"He told me what happened to Emily. He told me people had died. Then he showed me your academy application."
"I had already been commissioned by then."
"This was later. Before your first intelligence assignment."
She wiped her eyes.
"He said if you kept advancing, eventually you'd find Lantern."
"So you convinced Dad I was dangerous."
"I convinced him to push you away."
My throat closed.
"You helped erase me."
"I thought I was saving you."
The same excuse.
From all of them.
Protecting me by destroying me.
I looked at Martin.
"Why reveal yourself now?"
"Because Everett is finished."
"He's under arrest."
"Exactly."
"And?"
"Someone will need to answer for Lantern."
"You."
He smiled.
"No. Harrison."
I understood.
Martin had kept evidence implicating my father.
He planned to make Harrison the architect of the sabotage.
"You're framing him."
"I'm giving investigators the easiest answer."
"You admitted it to me."
"No recording devices are permitted inside this facility."
I almost smiled.
"You've been away from government work too long."
Cole's voice came through a speaker.
"We heard every word."
Martin froze.
Officers entered.
He ran.
He made it six steps.
Cole tackled him before he reached the emergency exit.
My mother grabbed my hand.
It was over.
Almost.
Martin was arrested.
Emily agreed to testify.
The original prototype established sabotage.
Financial records proved Everett's payments to Harrison.
My mother's testimony explained the forged security warning.
But Ryan found one final document.
A list of the three soldiers killed in the Lantern disaster.
Staff Sergeant Michael Torres.
Sergeant David Miller.
Specialist Aaron Brooks.
Beside each name was a family contact.
One caught my attention.
MILLER, DAVID — NEXT OF KIN: SARAH MILLER.
I knew Sarah Miller.
Colonel Sarah Miller.
She served on my staff.
She had congratulated me after my promotion.
She had stood beside me three days earlier when I received my star.
I called her.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then Ryan came running into my office.
"Alyssa."
"What?"
He held up his phone.
Security footage.
Sarah Miller had entered the evidence facility twenty minutes earlier.
The facility holding the original Lantern prototype.
"Why would she—"
My phone vibrated.
Sarah.
One message.
I'M SORRY.
Then another.
BUT MY FATHER DESERVES THE TRUTH.
The evidence-room alarm began screaming.
On the security feed, Sarah stood in front of the Lantern case.
She reached for the lock.
Someone stepped into frame behind her.
Sarah turned.
Her face went white.
I recognized the man immediately.
May you like
General Everett was supposed to be in federal custody.
But he was standing inside the evidence room.
