Chapter 4 - The Voice From The Past
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The screen glowed against the dark conference room table.
Unknown number.
But I knew exactly who it belonged to.
Daniel Reeves.
The man who had vanished ten years ago.
The man who was officially listed as missing.
The man who was supposed to be gone.
My fingers hovered above the phone.
Every instinct I had told me not to answer.
Years of training.
Years of missions.
Years of surviving situations where one wrong decision changed everything.
Don't react emotionally.
Don't follow the enemy's timing.
Don't walk into a trap.
But this wasn't an enemy.
At least, I didn't know if it was.
It was Daniel.
The person who had stood beside me when everything fell apart.
The person who knew the truth about Halo Six.
The phone rang again.
The general looked at me.
"Colonel."
I looked up.
His expression was serious.
"Whatever happens next, remember one thing."
"What?"
"Ten years ago, someone wanted this mission forgotten."
A pause.
"Tonight, someone wants it remembered."
The phone stopped.
The room became silent again.
Then the screen lit up.
A voicemail notification.
One new message.
Mark stared at it.
"You are actually going to listen to that?"
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
For years, I had built a life around one rule.
The past stayed buried.
But the past had just dug itself out.
I pressed play.
At first, there was only static.
Then breathing.
A familiar sound.
My heart tightened.
Then a voice.
Older.
Weaker.
But unmistakable.
"Margaret."
I closed my eyes.
Daniel.
It was him.
"If you are hearing this, then they failed to stop you."
My eyes opened.
The general leaned forward.
Mark looked confused.
The voice continued.
"You cannot trust the official report."
A pause.
"You cannot trust the people who told you I was dead."
The room felt smaller.
My hand tightened around the phone.
"Most importantly..."
Static interrupted the recording.
Then his voice returned.
"They know you survived."
The message ended.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Just silence.
Mark looked at me.
"Who was that?"
I stared at the phone.
"Someone who should not be alive."
The general closed the folder.
"We need to leave."
I looked at him.
"Leave?"
"Now."
His urgency was different this time.
Not military professionalism.
Not careful planning.
Fear.
Real fear.
And that scared me more than anything.
"Why?"
The general looked toward the closed conference room door.
"Because if Daniel found a way to contact you..."
He stopped.
I waited.
"If someone was tracking that communication, they already know where you are."
The words had barely left his mouth when the lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The conference room went dark for three seconds.
Only three.
But three seconds was enough.
When the lights returned, everyone noticed something.
The folder on the table was open.
The photograph was gone.
Nobody had entered.
Nobody had left.
But the photograph had disappeared.
My body reacted before my mind did.
I stood immediately.
"Nobody move."
The general looked around the room.
His expression changed.
Because he understood.
Someone had been inside.
Mark looked terrified.
"How is that possible?"
I ignored him.
I walked toward the door.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The old instincts returned.
The same instincts that kept me alive.
Observe.
Listen.
Find the threat.
The hallway outside was crowded with guests returning from the ballroom.
Normal conversations.
Normal laughter.
Nobody looked suspicious.
That was the problem.
The most dangerous people rarely looked dangerous.
The general stepped beside me.
"Colonel, we need security."
"No."
He looked at me.
"If someone got inside without being noticed, security won't help us."
The general didn't argue.
Because he knew I was right.
Mark followed behind us.
"Margaret."
I stopped.
I turned around.
"What?"
He hesitated.
The brother who had mocked me.
The brother who had humiliated me.
The brother who had spent years believing he knew my life.
Now he looked like a child standing in the middle of something much bigger than him.
"I owe you an apology."
I said nothing.
"I was wrong."
Still nothing.
He looked down.
"I spent years thinking you were hiding because you weren't successful."
His voice cracked slightly.
"But you were hiding because you were protecting people."
I looked at him.
For the first time that night, I saw regret.
Real regret.
"I don't expect you to forgive me."
I held his gaze.
"Good."
The answer surprised him.
Because it was honest.
"Not tonight."
He nodded slowly.
And somehow, that hurt more than anger would have.
The general's phone suddenly vibrated.
He checked the screen.
His face changed.
I noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
He turned the phone toward me.
A security alert.
One line.
Unauthorized access detected.
Below it was a location.
The conference room.
My stomach dropped.
"That doesn't make sense."
The general looked at me.
"What?"
"Whoever took the photograph was still inside."
The general frowned.
"But we were just there."
I nodded.
"Exactly."
We moved quickly back toward the conference room.
The hallway seemed longer than before.
The sounds of the ballroom disappeared behind us.
Every step felt heavier.
When we reached the door, the general raised his hand.
Stop.
He listened.
Nothing.
No voices.
No movement.
The door was closed.
Exactly how we left it.
The general reached for the handle.
I stopped him.
"Wait."
He looked at me.
I pointed.
There was something on the floor.
A small object.
A military identification tag.
Old.
Scratched.
Damaged.
My heart stopped.
Because I knew that tag.
Daniel's.
The general looked at me.
"Are you sure?"
I picked it up.
On the back were words carved into the metal.
Three words.
Words only two people in the world knew.
My hands started shaking.
Because Daniel wasn't just sending a message.
He was telling me where to go.
I turned the tag over.
And saw a set of coordinates.
The general stared at them.
"Colonel..."
I looked at him.
Those coordinates led to the place where Halo Six ended.
The place where Daniel Reeves disappeared.
The place I promised myself I would never return to.
Mark looked between us.
"What is it?"
I didn't answer.
Because before I could speak, my phone vibrated again.
Another message.
From Daniel.
One sentence.
No explanation.
No warning.
Just four words.
He's inside with you.
I looked up slowly.
The hallway was empty.
The general was beside me.
May you like
Mark was behind me.
And then the conference room door opened by itself.
