Chapter 6 - The Soldier Who Refused To Give Up
The voice behind the door said my name again.
"Daniel..."
I stood completely still.
Every instinct I had learned during years in the military told me one thing.
Do not open the door.
Not until you know who is standing on the other side.
My hand moved slowly toward the knife hidden beneath my jacket.
The person outside knocked again.
Three slow knocks.
"Daniel, I know you're inside."
I recognized the voice.
But I couldn't trust what I was hearing anymore.
Too many people had lied to me.
Too many people had hidden the truth behind friendly faces.
I moved closer to the door without making a sound.
Then I looked through the small window beside it.
A man stood outside.
Older.
Tired.
His face carried years of pain.
But the moment I saw him, my entire body froze.
Thomas Reed.
The man everyone believed was dead.
The man whose name had appeared inside Emily's investigation.
The man connected to everything I had been trying to understand.
I stepped away from the door.
Reed noticed.
"I know you saw me."
His voice was calm.
Not threatening.
Almost sad.
"Open the door, Daniel."
I didn't move.
"You're supposed to be dead."
A long silence followed.
Then Reed answered.
"I know."
Those two words made my heart beat faster.
Because he didn't deny it.
He didn't pretend.
He admitted it.
I unlocked the door but kept the chain attached.
The moment I opened it slightly, Reed looked directly at me.
His eyes changed.
Not because he was afraid.
Because he was looking at someone he had known for a long time.
"You look like your father."
The sentence hit me harder than expected.
"My father?"
Reed lowered his eyes.
"Emily was right. She knew eventually you would find out."
I tightened my grip on the door.
"What did Emily know?"
Reed looked past me.
At the laptop.
At the memory cards.
At the notebook.
His expression changed.
"You found everything."
"No."
My voice became colder.
"I found pieces. Everyone else has the rest."
Reed nodded slowly.
"That's why she left it for you."
"Why didn't she tell me?"
Reed looked at me.
"Because she was trying to keep you alive."
I almost laughed.
Everyone kept saying that.
Protecting me.
Keeping me alive.
But nobody understood.
Emily was already dead.
"She died because she trusted the wrong people."
Reed's expression changed.
"No."
His answer was immediate.
"She died because she trusted the right people too late."
I stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
Reed looked around the street.
"We can't talk here."
"Then talk inside."
He hesitated.
That hesitation told me everything.
Thomas Reed was not afraid of me.
He was afraid of whoever was watching us.
I opened the door.
He entered quickly.
The moment he stepped inside, he looked at Emily's picture on the wall.
For a few seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered.
"She was brave."
I watched him carefully.
"You knew her."
Reed nodded.
"Longer than you realize."
My jaw tightened.
"How long?"
He looked at me.
"Before you met her."
The room became silent.
I felt anger rising.
Emily was my wife.
The person I shared my life with.
And somehow, there was an entire part of her life I never knew existed.
"Start talking."
Reed sat down.
"Your wife discovered something connected to your final mission."
"My final mission?"
"The one that ended your military career."
I stared at him.
"The mission report said everything was classified."
"The report was changed."
My hands tightened.
"By who?"
Reed looked at the notebook.
Then at me.
"Your father."
I stopped.
The same answer from the photograph.
The same message.
He knew everything.
"My father died six years ago."
Reed nodded.
"I know."
"Then explain."
Reed took a deep breath.
"Your father wasn't the person you thought he was."
I wanted to reject it.
I wanted to tell him he was lying.
But every piece of evidence pointed in the same direction.
Emily's notebook.
The recordings.
The photographs.
The hidden files.
All of them led here.
"What did my father do?"
Reed looked at me.
"He discovered a private operation using military resources for personal gain."
I listened carefully.
"He tried to expose it."
"And?"
"They stopped him."
The room felt colder.
"You mean they killed him?"
Reed didn't answer immediately.
That was enough.
My father.
Emily.
The missing soldiers.
All connected.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Reed looked away.
"Because your father asked me not to."
I froze.
"What?"
"Before he died, he made me promise."
Reed's voice became quieter.
"He said if they ever came after you, I had to disappear."
I stared at him.
"So you let me believe you were dead?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because the same people who destroyed your father's life were still watching you."
I walked toward the table.
I needed answers.
"Who are they?"
Reed looked at the front window.
"They are not one person."
"Then who?"
"A network."
The word made me think of Emily's notes.
The people.
Not one person.
Them.
Reed continued.
"They have people in government. Private companies. Military organizations."
"And my family?"
Reed looked at me.
"Your family was closer to them than you knew."
My phone suddenly vibrated.
Both of us looked down.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
A photograph appeared.
It showed Reed standing inside my house.
Taken just moments earlier.
Someone had photographed us.
From inside.
My blood went cold.
Reed saw it.
His expression changed instantly.
"We need to leave."
"How did they get inside?"
He didn't answer.
Because he already knew.
Someone was in the house.
I grabbed my weapon from the drawer.
Reed stopped me.
"Daniel."
"What?"
"If you go after them now, you won't find answers."
I looked at him.
"You don't know me very well."
A small, sad smile appeared on Reed's face.
"Actually, I knew you before Emily did."
That sentence made me pause.
Before I could ask what he meant, a sound came from upstairs.
A floorboard.
Someone moving.
Reed immediately became alert.
He whispered.
"How many entrances does this house have?"
"Two."
"Then whoever is upstairs came through the third."
I looked at him.
"There is no third entrance."
Reed stared toward the ceiling.
"Exactly."
We moved slowly.
Every step.
Every breath.
The house felt different now.
Like it was no longer my home.
Like someone else had been living in the shadows.
We reached the stairs.
At the top was Emily's bedroom.
The door was closed.
I knew I had left it open.
Reed raised his hand.
Stopping me.
Then he pointed.
A small piece of paper was sticking out from beneath the door.
My name was written on it.
Daniel.
I reached down and picked it up.
Inside were only five words.
"You were never the target."
I looked at Reed.
"What does this mean?"
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
The caller ID appeared.
My heart stopped.
Because the call was coming from Emily's phone.
The number that had been disconnected after her death.
Reed looked at the screen.
And for the first time since I met him...
Thomas Reed looked terrified.
"Daniel..."
I answered.
No one spoke.
Only breathing.
Then a familiar voice whispered.
"Daniel, please don't trust him."
I froze.
May you like
Because it was Emily's voice.
Then the bedroom door behind us slowly unlocked from the inside.
