Chapter 6 - The Last Order
Daniel ran outside.
“ELIAS!”
Federal agents spread across the property.
Another gunshot cracked from the tree line.
Not aimed at Daniel.
A warning.
Daniel saw movement downhill.
One figure.
Fast.
Elias.
Daniel followed.
His knee screamed.
He kept running.
Branches tore at his jacket.
Behind him, agents shouted.
Daniel knew Elias’s habits.
Knew how he moved.
Knew how he chose terrain.
That gave him an advantage no tracker had.
Elias cut toward the old service road.
Daniel intercepted.
They collided near a fallen pine.
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
Elias shoved him away.
“Stop!”
“Give me the card!”
“I don’t have it!”
Daniel swung.
Elias blocked.
Neither man fought like they were young.
They fought like veterans.
Efficient.
Ugly.
Short.
Daniel drove Elias backward.
Elias caught his arm.
“Listen to me!”
“You ran.”
“Because someone whispered my name outside!”
Daniel stopped.
“What?”
“I followed them.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel stared.
Elias opened his hands.
“No card.”
Daniel searched his pockets.
Nothing.
Then agents arrived.
They separated them.
Laura came down the path.
She looked at Elias.
“I heard you.”
Elias shook his head.
“You heard a recording.”
“It was your voice.”
“When?”
“Nineteen years ago.”
Elias stared.
“Laura, nineteen years ago I was in Germany.”
Daniel remembered.
Elias had been recovering from surgery after a shoulder injury.
Or that was the record.
Victor approached.
“He was.”
Laura turned.
Victor continued.
“I signed the travel authorization.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You signed a lot of things.”
Victor accepted that.
“Yes.”
One federal agent found a small transmitter near the cabin.
Another found a speaker.
Someone had played a voice outside.
A deliberate distraction.
The missing red card was not with Elias.
Then who had it?
Grant.
Daniel turned.
Grant was gone.
Again.
His car remained.
His phone remained.
But Grant had disappeared.
Audrey received a message ten minutes later.
I’M SORRY.
Daniel read it.
Then another.
I KNOW WHO HAS THE CARD.
Then:
I’M GOING TO FIX THIS.
Daniel called.
No answer.
He texted:
DO NOT DO ANYTHING ALONE.
Nothing.
Then Audrey’s phone rang.
Grant.
Sanders put it on speaker.
Audrey answered.
“Grant.”
His breathing was heavy.
“Audrey.”
“Where are you?”
“You shouldn’t forgive me.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
A broken laugh.
“Fair.”
“Where are you?”
“At my father’s old airfield.”
Daniel looked at Sanders.
She immediately signaled officers.
Grant continued.
“The card is here.”
“With who?”
Grant hesitated.
“My mother.”
Audrey froze.
“Your mother is dead.”
“No.”
Daniel almost laughed at the cruelty of the pattern.
Apparently everyone in this nightmare was alive except the truth.
Grant said:
“She left when I was twelve. Dad told everyone she died.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew about Lantern.”
Daniel took the phone.
“Grant.”
Silence.
“Daniel.”
“Do not touch anything.”
“She has the card.”
“Then walk away.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“You taught Audrey that?”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
Grant continued.
“You told her people don’t get dragged home anymore.”
Daniel looked at Audrey.
She had told Grant?
No.
Grant must have overheard.
Or accessed the hospital.
“Walk away,” Daniel repeated.
Grant whispered:
“She has a gun.”
Then the call ended.
The old Halston airfield sat forty miles south.
Federal teams moved.
Daniel stayed with them.
Audrey insisted on coming.
Daniel said no.
Audrey said:
“He’s my husband.”
Daniel stared.
“After everything?”
“I’m not going because I love him.”
“Then why?”
“Because I want to hear him tell the truth when he can’t hide behind his father.”
Daniel understood.
She came under police protection.
At the airfield, one hangar stood open.
Grant knelt inside.
Hands on his head.
A woman stood behind him.
Miriam Halston.
Charles’s presumed-dead wife.
She held a pistol.
In her other hand, the red memory card.
Daniel entered with Sanders.
“Miriam.”
She smiled.
“So the famous Colonel Mercer finally arrives.”
Daniel kept his hands visible.
“Put the gun down.”
“You sound exactly like the recordings.”
“What recordings?”
“Lantern.”
Daniel looked at Grant.
He was bleeding from his forehead.
Not badly.
Miriam continued.
“Charles didn’t create this system.”
“Who did?”
“You.”
Daniel stared.
Miriam laughed.
“Not intentionally.”
She held up the card.
“Your unit was the perfect testing ground.”
“For what?”
“Private intelligence laundering.”
Daniel understood.
Someone had used military operations to move black funds.
“Who?”
Miriam’s smile faded.
“The man who signed your final orders.”
Daniel searched his memory.
General Thomas Vane.
Commander.
Mentor.
Dead eight years.
Or supposedly.
“You’re saying Vane?”
Miriam nodded.
“He partnered with Charles.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
“Why keep this hidden?”
“Because Vane built careers. Judges. Senators. Contractors. Intelligence officers.”
“Victor?”
“Small piece.”
“Elias?”
“Unknowing piece.”
Daniel looked at Laura.
Everything aligned.
“Give me the card.”
Miriam laughed.
“No.”
“What do you want?”
“Protection.”
“You have federal agents outside.”
“I don’t trust federal agents.”
Reasonable, considering the story.
Daniel nodded.
“Then trust Audrey.”
Miriam looked toward her.
Audrey stepped forward.
Daniel tried to stop her.
She raised one hand.
“I know what it feels like when a Halston man decides your life belongs to him.”
Miriam’s expression changed.
Audrey continued.
“Give us the card.”
“Why would I trust you?”
“Because I’m the one person here who doesn’t care about your secrets.”
Grant looked at her.
Pain crossed his face.
Audrey ignored him.
“I care about ending this.”
Miriam’s hand trembled.
Then she lowered the gun.
Sanders moved.
Agents entered.
The card was secured.
Grant remained kneeling.
Audrey looked at him.
He whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
Audrey’s voice was calm.
“You should be.”
“I loved you.”
“You controlled me.”
“I know.”
“You hurt me.”
“Yes.”
“You listened to your father instead of me.”
“Yes.”
Tears filled Grant’s eyes.
Audrey stood straighter.
“I hope you tell the truth.”
“I will.”
“But I won’t be waiting for you when you’re done.”
Grant closed his eyes.
Daniel watched his daughter reclaim herself without shouting.
No revenge.
No cruelty.
Just a boundary.
It was the strongest thing he had seen in years.
Federal analysts accessed the red card that night.
Audio files.
Payments.
Orders.
Names.
General Vane’s voice.
Charles Halston’s voice.
Victor’s voice.
But one file was encrypted.
Its title was simple:
MERCER FAMILY — CONTINGENCY.
Daniel stared at the screen.
Audrey squeezed his hand.
“What does contingency mean?”
Daniel already knew.
A backup plan.
For when everything else failed.
The technician broke the encryption at 3:07 a.m.
A video opened.
General Vane appeared.
Older than Daniel remembered.
Alive.
The recording timestamp was three days ago.
Vane looked directly into the camera.
“If Daniel Mercer sees this, then Charles failed.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Vane continued.
“And if Audrey Mercer is still alive, proceed to the final location.”
The video cut.
A map appeared.
One coordinate.
Daniel recognized it instantly.
Audrey did too.
Her face went white.
It was not a military base.
It was the cemetery where Laura Mercer had supposedly been buried twelve years earlier.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
The caller ID showed one name.
GENERAL VANE.
Daniel answered.
No greeting.
No static.
Just the voice of the dead man who had once commanded him.
“Bring Laura to the grave.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
Vane laughed softly.
“Because, Colonel, the woman standing beside you still hasn’t told Audrey why we chose her.”
The call ended.
Audrey slowly turned toward her mother.
Laura began to cry.
“Mom?”
Laura backed away.
Audrey stared at her.
“What haven’t you told me?”
Laura opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, the hospital bracelet on Audrey’s wrist began beeping.
A tiny red light flashed beneath the plastic.
Daniel ripped it off.
May you like
Inside was a tracking device.
And somewhere outside the building, an engine started.
