Chapter 3 - The Commander Who Wasn't Supposed to Exist
The older officer stepped into the gym and everyone moved aside:
"Commander Carter is here."
Lieutenant Daniel Carter turned pale when he saw the man standing behind him.
But the officer wasn't looking at him.
He was looking at me.
He walked forward slowly.
Then he smiled.
"After all these years, Claire's son finally found the truth."
The gym went silent.
I stared at him.
I didn't know his name.
I didn't know why everyone suddenly looked afraid.
But I knew one thing.
My mother had warned me about him.
Commander Carter.
The name written in her final message.
The name she told me not to trust.
And now he was standing ten feet away from me.
I looked at Lieutenant Carter.
The first thing I noticed was the difference between them.
Daniel Carter looked nervous.
The older man looked completely calm.
Like he had been waiting for this moment.
"Who are you?" I asked.
The older officer smiled.
"Someone your mother used to trust."
My stomach tightened.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because she told me not to trust you."
For the first time, the man's smile disappeared.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
A flash of anger.
Then it was gone.
The students around us didn't understand what was happening.
They only knew something serious was unfolding.
The principal stepped forward.
"Can someone please explain what is happening in my school?"
Nobody answered him.
Because everyone was watching the commander.
He looked at the principal.
Then at the crowd.
Then back at me.
"This conversation should not happen here."
I laughed quietly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I was tired.
"Twelve minutes ago, everyone here thought I was lying about my own mother."
My voice shook.
"Now suddenly everyone wants me to leave because the truth is uncomfortable?"
Nobody spoke.
The lieutenant looked away.
Because he knew I was right.
The commander studied me carefully.
"You have your mother's attitude."
I clenched my fists.
"You don't get to talk about my mother."
The room changed.
The commander wasn't used to being challenged.
Especially not by me.
But instead of getting angry, he nodded.
"Good."
I frowned.
"What?"
"She trained you well."
That sentence bothered me more than an insult would have.
Because it sounded like he knew her.
Really knew her.
I stepped closer.
"What happened to her?"
The commander's eyes shifted.
A small movement.
Almost invisible.
But I noticed.
"Your mother made difficult choices."
"Where is she?"
Silence.
"Answer me."
The handler with the military dogs stepped between us.
"Ethan."
I looked at him.
"Do you know where my mother is?"
The handler didn't answer.
That was an answer.
My chest tightened.
The commander spoke calmly.
"Your mother is alive."
The entire gym froze.
I stopped breathing.
"What?"
He looked directly at me.
"Claire Walker is alive."
For three years, I had lived with the possibility that she wasn't coming back.
Three years of unanswered calls.
Three years of waiting.
Three years of pretending I didn't check the front door every night.
And now this man was telling me she was alive.
"Where is she?"
The commander didn't respond immediately.
That scared me.
"Where is she?"
He looked at Lieutenant Carter.
Then at the handlers.
Finally, back at me.
"Hidden."
"From who?"
His expression became serious.
"From people who believe she knows too much."
I felt a cold feeling move through me.
My mother wasn't missing.
She was hiding.
Someone was looking for her.
And somehow, I was now involved.
The commander reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small device.
A military communication unit.
"I think you deserve to hear something."
The lieutenant immediately stepped forward.
"No."
The commander looked at him.
"Still protecting the secret?"
Daniel Carter didn't answer.
The commander activated the device.
Static filled the gym.
Then a voice came through.
A woman's voice.
A voice I hadn't heard in three years.
My entire body froze.
"Ethan..."
I couldn't move.
I couldn't speak.
Because I knew that voice.
"Mom?"
The students around me gasped.
The handler lowered his head.
Even the lieutenant looked away.
My mother's voice continued.
"If you're hearing this, it means I failed to stop them."
My heart started pounding.
The recording continued.
"I need you to listen carefully."
The gym disappeared.
There was only her voice.
"Do not believe everything they tell you."
A pause.
Then:
"Especially Daniel Carter."
Everyone looked at the lieutenant.
His face changed.
The same man who had mocked me.
The same man who had claimed he didn't know my mother.
Was now being accused by her.
The recording continued.
"Ethan, there is something you need to know about the day I disappeared."
I leaned closer.
My hands were shaking.
"The mission was never about stopping an enemy."
The commander watched my reaction.
"The mission was about exposing someone inside our own organization."
A loud sound interrupted the recording.
Like a door opening.
My mother's breathing changed.
She sounded afraid.
Then she whispered:
"If Commander Carter is standing with you..."
The recording cut for a second.
Everyone waited.
Then her voice returned.
Barely audible.
"Run."
The device went silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
I looked at Commander Carter.
Then Lieutenant Carter.
Two men.
Same last name.
Two completely different reactions.
One looked shocked.
The other looked terrified.
The commander slowly turned toward the entrance.
"Lock the doors."
The handlers immediately moved.
Students started panicking.
"What is happening?"
"Why are they locking us in?"
The principal shouted for everyone to calm down.
But nobody listened.
Because everyone had finally realized something.
This was not a school assembly anymore.
This was a military operation.
I walked toward Commander Carter.
"You knew she was alive."
He looked at me.
"Yes."
"You knew where she was."
A pause.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
His expression softened.
"Because if I told you, they would find you."
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the gym windows.
The same windows where hundreds of students had watched me get humiliated.
Now he was watching them like they were a threat.
The handler suddenly touched his earpiece.
His face changed.
"Commander."
Everyone looked at him.
"What is it?"
The handler swallowed.
"We have movement outside."
The commander became completely still.
"How many?"
The handler looked toward the doors.
Then whispered:
"Too many."
The lights in the gym flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every screen in the gym turned black.
A single message appeared.
Not from the school.
Not from the military.
From someone who knew exactly where I was.
The message had only four words.
"Bring me Ethan Walker."
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And underneath it was a photograph of my mother.
:::
