Chapter 5 - The Secret Inside The Video
The voice behind me made every instinct I had come alive.
I turned slowly.
A man stood near the entrance of the warehouse.
Not Thomas.
Not someone I recognized.
He wore a black jacket with the same symbol from the hospital photograph.
The same symbol that had been following my daughter.
The same symbol connected to Dustin.
But there was something different about him.
He wasn't nervous.
He wasn't hiding.
He looked like someone who knew he already had control.
Thomas stepped in front of me.
"Don't."
The man smiled.
"Still protecting people, Thomas?"
I looked at Thomas.
The expression on his face told me everything.
He knew this man.
Not as an enemy.
As someone from his past.
"Who is he?"
Thomas didn't answer.
The man did.
"My name is Victor Kane."
He looked at me.
"And I think you already know why we're here."
I felt my anger rise.
"My daughter."
Victor smiled slightly.
"Always straight to the point."
I took a step forward.
"Where is she?"
The smile disappeared.
"Alive."
One word.
But it was enough.
I needed to hear it.
I needed to know.
"Take me to her."
Victor looked at Thomas.
"You really didn't tell him anything?"
Thomas stayed silent.
Victor shook his head.
"Fifteen years later, and you're still making the same mistake."
"What mistake?"
Victor looked at me.
"Trusting people who don't tell you the whole truth."
I didn't like the way he said it.
Because a part of me knew he wasn't completely wrong.
Thomas had hidden things.
Important things.
Things involving my daughter.
Things involving her danger.
I looked at Thomas.
"Tell me."
He didn't move.
"Now."
Thomas finally looked at me.
His eyes were full of regret.
"Your last mission wasn't what you thought."
I froze.
"What does that have to do with Marcy?"
"Everything."
The warehouse became silent.
Thomas took a deep breath.
"The mission where I supposedly died..."
He looked at Victor.
"...wasn't a combat operation."
I stared at him.
"What are you saying?"
Thomas looked down.
"We weren't sent there to stop someone."
A pause.
"We were sent there to recover something."
My voice became colder.
"What?"
"A file."
Victor stepped closer.
"A file that was supposed to disappear."
I looked between them.
"And my daughter found it?"
Thomas nodded.
"Not exactly."
I waited.
"She found the person who had it."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
Thomas didn't answer.
Because Victor did.
"Your wife."
Everything stopped.
I stared at him.
"My wife is dead."
Victor didn't react.
"I know."
The way he said it bothered me.
Like he knew something I didn't.
"Then don't bring her into this."
Victor reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small envelope.
Then placed it on the table.
Inside was a photograph.
I picked it up.
And my hands froze.
It was my wife.
Emma.
But she wasn't alone.
She was standing beside Thomas.
Years ago.
Before her death.
Before I was told she had nothing to do with my old military work.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten note.
Three words.
"He deserves truth."
I looked at Thomas.
"You knew her?"
Thomas didn't answer.
That was enough.
I felt something break inside me.
Not because they knew each other.
Because everyone seemed to know something except me.
My entire life suddenly felt like a story someone else had written.
"What happened to my wife?"
Thomas looked away.
"She found the file."
"And?"
"She tried to expose them."
"Who?"
Victor stepped forward.
"The same people who are holding your daughter now."
I looked at him.
"Why would I believe you?"
"You shouldn't."
That surprised me.
Victor continued.
"You should believe the evidence."
He reached into his pocket.
Then placed a small phone on the table.
My breath stopped.
The phone.
The hidden phone Marcy had found.
The one everyone was trying to hide.
"You had it?"
Victor nodded.
"No."
He looked at Thomas.
"He did."
I turned.
Thomas didn't deny it.
My anger exploded.
"You had the phone?"
Thomas lowered his head.
"I was trying to protect you."
"By hiding the truth?"
"I was trying to keep you alive."
I stepped closer.
"People I love are getting hurt because you decided I couldn't handle the truth."
Thomas accepted the anger.
Because he knew I was right.
Victor picked up the phone.
"There is a video on this."
He looked at me.
"A video your wife recorded before she died."
My heart stopped.
"Play it."
Victor looked at Thomas.
Then pressed the screen.
The video started.
Emma appeared.
Older than the last picture I had seen.
Tired.
Scared.
But alive.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Her voice came through the speaker.
"If you're watching this..."
She paused.
"Then they found me."
My hands started shaking.
Thomas looked away.
Emma continued.
"I don't know who will see this first."
She looked directly into the camera.
"But if it's you..."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry."
I couldn't move.
Because I knew that voice.
I knew that face.
The woman I buried.
The woman I thought I lost.
The video continued.
"The truth about what happened to me was never about the mission."
She looked down.
"It was about our daughter."
My entire body went cold.
Marcy.
Emma continued.
"Someone has been watching her since she was born."
The screen flickered.
Then her voice became quieter.
"The person who protected the secret was someone you trusted."
The video suddenly froze.
Victor looked at the screen.
Thomas stepped forward.
"No."
The phone displayed one final frame.
A paused image.
A person standing behind Emma.
Someone whose face was partially visible.
Someone I recognized.
Because I had trusted him.
Because I had called him a friend.
Because I had believed he died fifteen years ago.
Thomas whispered:
"That's impossible."
May you like
I looked at the frozen image.
And then the warehouse door behind us slowly opened.
