Chapter 6 - The Officer Who Knew My Father
“Call Madison,” Commandant Cole ordered.
I already was.
The phone rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
No answer.
“Come on, Madison.”
Four rings.
Then the call connected.
I heard breathing.
“Madison?”
Nothing.
I pressed the phone harder against my ear.
“Madison, answer me.”
A faint scraping sound came through the speaker.
Then my father's voice.
“Amelia.”
Every person in the room went still.
I looked at Cole.
“Dad.”
“You need to stop.”
His voice was strangely calm.
That frightened me more than shouting would have.
“Where's Madison?”
“She’s fine.”
“Put her on.”
“No.”
“Then put Diane on.”
Silence.
“Dad.”
“You opened Eleanor's file, didn't you?”
There it was.
Not a question.
He knew.
I looked at the blue folder on the table.
“How?”
“You don't understand what you're reading.”
“I understand a paternity exclusion.”
The silence on his end lasted just a second too long.
Cole's eyes narrowed.
“You knew,” I said.
“Amelia—”
“You knew you weren't my biological father.”
“That paper proves nothing.”
“It literally proves you aren't.”
“Laboratories make mistakes.”
“Mom believed it.”
“Your mother believed many things.”
My jaw tightened.
“Don't do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make her sound unstable because she found out things you wanted hidden.”
His voice sharpened.
“You have no idea what your mother became.”
“What did she become?”
“Afraid.”
The answer surprised me.
Not unstable.
Not obsessed.
Afraid.
“Of you?”
He didn't answer.
I looked at the photograph of Lucy.
“Who is Lucy?”
The line went silent.
“Dad?”
Cole stepped closer.
I continued.
“She's standing in our house right now.”
Robert finally spoke.
“Stay where you are.”
“Why?”
“Do not come home.”
“That sounds like the first useful advice you've given me today.”
“Amelia, listen to me.”
“Put Madison on.”
“No.”
“Why?”
A woman's voice sounded faintly in the background.
I couldn't understand the words.
Then something crashed.
“Dad?”
The call ended.
I immediately tried again.
Straight to voicemail.
“Trace it,” Cole told the academy investigator.
She was already moving.
“We need local police,” I said.
“They're being contacted.”
“I'm going home.”
“No.”
I turned on Cole.
“My sister is in that house.”
“You don't know that she's in immediate danger.”
“She sent me a photograph and said the door locked from the inside.”
“And walking into an unknown situation won't help her.”
I hated that he was right.
I hated even more that military training had taught me the same thing.
Don't rush toward the thing designed to make you emotional.
Observe.
Assess.
Act.
I forced myself to look at the evidence instead.
Lucy.
Daniel Mercer.
My mother.
Robert.
Two birth certificates.
One paternity exclusion.
A hidden file.
A woman who had appeared at my graduation and then somehow ended up inside my childhood home.
“What if Lucy isn't the threat?” I said.
Cole looked at me.
“What?”
“The message said I had two hours before Robert found her.”
Colonel Shaw understood first.
“Whoever sent that believed Lucy needed protection from Robert.”
“Yes.”
“But now she's with him,” Cole said.
“Maybe she didn't go willingly.”
The investigator looked up from her phone.
“Local police are dispatching units. Eight-minute estimate.”
Eight minutes felt like an hour.
I stared at the photograph Madison had sent.
Robert stood near the living room doorway.
Lucy was behind him.
I zoomed in.
Her hands weren't visible.
Her expression wasn't clear.
But something was wrong.
Then I noticed the mirror behind them.
In the reflection, Lucy's right arm was visible.
Her hand was raised near her waist.
She was holding something.
A small rectangular object.
Blue.
I enlarged it.
A flash drive.
“She's carrying something.”
Cole leaned closer.
“Could be.”
“Why would she bring a flash drive to my father?”
Nobody answered.
My phone rang.
Madison.
I answered instantly.
“Madison?”
This time her voice came through.
Whispering.
“Don't talk loud.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Upstairs.”
“Where's Diane?”
“With me.”
“Dad?”
“Downstairs.”
“And Lucy?”
A pause.
“She says her name isn't Lucy.”
I looked at the childhood photograph.
“What?”
“She said Lucy Mercer died when she was six.”
The room around me disappeared.
“Then who is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Madison, listen carefully. Is Dad threatening her?”
“I don't think so.”
“Is she threatening him?”
“I don't know.”
“What happened after you sent the picture?”
“Dad told us to go upstairs.”
“Why?”
“He said he needed to speak to her alone.”
“Did you hear anything?”
“Some.”
“What?”
Madison inhaled shakily.
“She asked him where Daniel was.”
I gripped the phone.
“What did Dad say?”
“He said Daniel should have stayed dead.”
Cole heard it.
His expression changed.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“She said she had Eleanor's copy.”
My eyes went to the blue file.
“Copy of what?”
“I don't know. Dad started yelling.”
“What did he say?”
Madison hesitated.
“Tell me.”
“He said, ‘If Amelia sees that, she'll destroy everything.’”
My heart pounded.
“What is she carrying?”
“I don't know.”
“Did she mention a flash drive?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Madison's voice became quieter.
“She said Eleanor recorded the whole thing.”
I looked at Cole.
The cassette.
That wasn't the only recording.
“Recorded what?”
“I couldn't hear.”
Footsteps sounded on Madison's end.
She stopped breathing.
“Someone's coming.”
“Hide.”
“I am.”
A door opened.
Then Diane's voice whispered:
“Madison.”
“Mom?”
Diane sounded terrified.
“Your father wants our phones.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't give him yours,” I said.
Diane heard me.
“Amelia?”
“I'm here.”
“Oh, thank God.”
“Diane, what's happening?”
“I don't know.”
For the first time in my life, my stepmother sounded completely lost.
“Robert told me that woman was an old academy employee.”
“She isn't.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I've seen her before.”
I froze.
“Where?”
Diane hesitated.
“Your mother's funeral.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“She was there.”
“Fifteen years ago?”
“Yes.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn't know who she was.”
“Did Dad?”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“Because when he saw her, he left the graveside.”
I looked at Cole.
Another piece.
Another lie.
“Did they speak?”
“I don't know. He disappeared for almost an hour.”
Madison whispered:
“Mom, someone's coming upstairs.”
Diane stopped.
Footsteps sounded through the phone.
Slow.
Heavy.
Dad.
“Turn the phone off,” I whispered.
The call disconnected.
I stared at the screen.
The investigator spoke.
“Police are two minutes out.”
“Tell them not to force entry unless necessary.”
Cole looked at me.
“Why?”
“If Lucy—or whoever she is—has evidence, Dad may destroy it if he panics.”
“And your family?”
“I want them safe.”
“Evidence comes second.”
“I know.”
It hurt to say.
Because fifteen years of lies might be sitting on that flash drive.
But Madison and Diane were alive.
My mother's secrets could wait.
Police couldn't.
The investigator relayed the instructions.
Then my phone rang again.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman's voice.
“You found the file.”
I recognized her.
Not because I had heard her speak before.
Because something about her voice sounded eerily similar to the woman on my mother's cassette.
“Who are you?”
“You've seen my photograph.”
“Lucy?”
“No.”
“Then tell me your name.”
“Not on the phone.”
“Are you inside my father's house?”
“Yes.”
“Is my family safe?”
“For now.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Robert is more frightened of you than he is of me.”
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor finally won.”
“My mother is dead.”
“No.”
The word came so quickly I almost didn't understand it.
“No what?”
“Death didn't erase what she built.”
“Who are you?”
“I was the child in the photograph.”
“You said you aren't Lucy.”
“I wasn't born Lucy Mercer.”
“What does that mean?”
“Daniel changed my name.”
“Why?”
“To keep Robert from finding me.”
The investigator motioned that police had arrived at the house.
I kept the woman talking.
“What's your real name?”
“Claire.”
“Claire what?”
“Mercer now.”
“You're Daniel's daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
Silence.
“Claire.”
“Your father knows.”
“Robert is not my biological father.”
“Biology isn't what made him dangerous.”
That sentence chilled me.
“What happened to my mother?”
Claire inhaled.
“Not over the phone.”
“Then come outside. Police are there.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“I'm looking at them.”
“Then walk out.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Robert took the drive.”
My eyes closed.
Of course.
“Does he still have it?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
A muffled voice sounded behind her.
Claire whispered:
“I have to go.”
“Wait.”
“Find Daniel.”
“Where?”
“Ask Cole about Fort Ashburn.”
I looked at the Commandant.
His face changed instantly.
Claire continued.
“Daniel contacted him twelve years ago.”
I stared at Cole.
“He told me Daniel was dead.”
Cole shook his head violently.
“I thought he was.”
Claire heard me.
“He's lying.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“You shouldn't.”
That answer surprised me.
“Then give me proof.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When you find the officer who received Daniel's letter.”
“Who?”
Claire's voice dropped.
“Colonel Rebecca Shaw.”
I turned slowly.
Shaw's face drained of color.
The call ended.
Nobody spoke.
I stared at her.
“You knew Daniel?”
“No.”
“Claire just said—”
“I heard her.”
“Did you receive a letter from him?”
Shaw looked at Cole.
Then at me.
“Yes.”
One word.
Enough to make everything shift again.
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“Three years after Mom died.”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“I never opened it.”
I almost shouted.
“What?”
“It wasn't addressed to me.”
“Who was it addressed to?”
Shaw hesitated.
“Commandant Cole.”
I looked at him.
Cole seemed genuinely confused.
“I never received anything.”
Shaw continued.
“Because I was ordered to destroy it.”
“By who?”
“Your predecessor.”
“Why?”
“He said Mercer was unstable and had been threatening the academy.”
“Did you destroy it?”
Shaw looked at me.
“No.”
My heart kicked.
“Where is it?”
“In my office.”
Cole's voice hardened.
“Rebecca.”
“I kept it because the order felt wrong.”
“For twelve years?”
“Yes.”
“What does it say?”
“I told you. I never opened it.”
I stepped toward her.
“We're opening it now.”
Police had secured my father's house by then.
The investigator received updates as we hurried back toward Shaw's office.
Madison and Diane were safe.
Claire had surrendered peacefully.
Robert was gone.
He had escaped through the rear garage minutes before police entered.
And the flash drive was gone with him.
That meant my father was running.
From what?
From me?
From police?
Or from something Daniel Mercer had written twelve years ago?
Shaw unlocked her office.
She went directly to a filing cabinet.
Bottom drawer.
Behind several personnel folders was a sealed brown envelope.
Old handwriting covered the front.
COMMANDANT NATHANIEL COLE.
PERSONAL.
DO NOT ROUTE THROUGH ADMINISTRATION.
Cole stared at it.
“That is Daniel's handwriting.”
Shaw placed it on the desk.
Nobody moved.
Finally Cole broke the seal.
Inside were three pages.
And a key.
Cole read the first page silently.
Then his face went white.
“What?”
He kept reading.
“Nathaniel,” I said.
He handed me the letter.
Cole,
If this reaches you, then Eleanor is dead and Robert has already started rewriting what happened.
I am alive.
I stayed away because that was the agreement.
Robert promised he would never hurt Amelia if I disappeared.
But Eleanor contacted me six weeks before her death.
She had discovered Robert was following Margaret Voss.
She believed he had learned about the second paternity test.
My eyes stopped.
Second paternity test.
I continued.
There are two results.
The one excluding Robert is not the important one.
The second result is.
Eleanor hid it because if Robert ever discovered the truth, Amelia would lose more than a father.
She would lose the only family she believed she had.
I looked at Cole.
“What does that mean?”
“Keep reading.”
My hands trembled.
I turned the page.
If Amelia ever reaches Jefferson, take her to Fort Ashburn.
Locker C-19.
The key is enclosed.
Do not tell Robert.
Do not contact me.
And do not let Amelia open it unless she has Eleanor's medal.
I touched the medal still hanging beneath my uniform jacket.
The medal I'd received hours earlier.
Cole picked up the small brass key.
C-19.
“Fort Ashburn,” I said.
Shaw looked uneasy.
“It's an abandoned training installation forty minutes north.”
Cole folded the letter.
“We go with academy police.”
I nodded.
“Now.”
Forty-seven minutes later, we entered the old installation.
Most buildings had been converted into storage.
Locker C-19 was located inside a former communications room.
The key fit.
I removed my medal.
There was a narrow slot beneath the lock.
I inserted the edge.
Click.
The locker opened.
Inside was a metal case.
One envelope rested on top.
FOR AMELIA.
I opened it.
There was no letter.
Only a photograph.
My mother holding me as a newborn.
Daniel stood beside her.
And behind them stood another man.
A man I recognized immediately.
Commandant Nathaniel Cole.
I looked at him.
He looked horrified.
On the back, my mother had written six words.
THE TEST WAS NEVER ABOUT DANIEL.
My blood went cold.
Inside the metal case was another sealed laboratory envelope.
Cole whispered:
“Amelia, wait.”
I broke the seal.
A document slid into my hands.
I saw my mother's name.
My name.
Then the biological father's identification field.
Before I could read it, a voice came from the doorway.
“Don't.”
I knew that voice.
My father stepped into the room.
Robert Hart was holding a pistol.
May you like
And behind him stood a man I had only ever seen in old photographs.
Daniel Mercer.
