Chapter 10: My Father Was Never Dead
I watched the black screen for almost a full minute.
My father had been dead for eleven years.
I remembered his funeral.
I remembered the folded flag placed over his coffin. I remembered the three-volley salute and the sound of military boots against the cemetery pavement.
I remembered standing beside my mother, holding her hand while she whispered that he had died serving his country.
And now the man I had buried had just called me.
Rebecca sat across from me, crying into her hands.
“Claire, please. You have to understand.””
I slowly lowered my phone.
“Understand what?””
“Your father wasn't supposed to contact you.””
“Why?””
“Because he was protecting the operation.””
I stared at her.
“What operation?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“I only know what Derek told me.””
“You've been lying to me for three years. I don't think you get to decide what I can handle.””
She flinched.
Then she reached into her handbag and pulled out another envelope.
“I was supposed to give you this if you ever discovered your father was alive.””
I didn't touch it.
“Who gave it to you?””
“Derek.””
“Why would Derek give you something meant for me?””
“Because he said you would eventually find out.””
I looked at the envelope.
My father's handwriting was on the front.
*For Claire. Only when the time comes.*
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph of my mother standing beside a military transport aircraft.
She looked younger.
Maybe forty-five.
A man stood behind her, his face partially hidden by the aircraft's wing.
I recognized him immediately.
My father.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Three months after his supposed death.
My hands began shaking.
I turned to the second page.
It was a letter.
Claire,
If you're reading this, then the people I trusted have failed to keep you away from the truth.
Your mother was not killed in a car accident.
I stopped reading.
The café disappeared.
My mother had died when I was twenty-two.
The official report stated that her vehicle had left the road during a storm. She had been returning from a charity event.
I had attended the funeral.
I had identified her belongings.
I had spent years believing I had lost both parents.
But the letter continued.
She discovered the original financial arrangements involving the military rehabilitation program. She intended to expose them. I tried to stop her, but she had already sent copies of the records to someone she believed she could trust.
That person was Evelyn Halston.
I looked up.
Rebecca was staring at me.
“Your father told me that Evelyn knew your mother?””
I nodded slowly.
“Apparently.””
Rebecca swallowed.
“Claire, there's more.””
I continued reading.
Your mother disappeared before the investigation could begin. The accident report was created afterward. I was told that if I cooperated, you would be protected.
I made a terrible decision.
I chose silence.
And silence became the foundation of everything that followed.
I folded the letter.
My father had known.
He had known my mother was in danger.
He had known the people around us were corrupt.
And he had allowed me to grow up believing both my parents were dead.
“Where is he?”” I asked.
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't know.””
“Then why did he call?””
“He wanted to see whether you had the documents.””
“What documents?””
“The original authorization. The one Nathan hid.””
I remembered the missing military storage box.
The original invention agreement.
The encrypted archive.
Everything had been connected.
Rebecca reached for my hand again.
“Claire, please. We can still fix this.””
I pulled away.
“You don't get to say that.””
“I made mistakes.””
“You helped them steal my work.””
“I know.””
“You watched me learn to walk again while Derek paid you to monitor me.””
“I know.””
“You knew someone had planned the explosion.””
Rebecca began crying harder.
“I didn't know you would lose your leg.””
I stared at her.
“But you knew I might die.””
She lowered her head.
I turned toward the café entrance.
Two federal agents were waiting outside.
Agent Grant had arranged the meeting as a controlled operation.
I gave her the signal.
She entered with another investigator.
“Captain Lawson,” she said.
“Please stand.””
Rebecca looked at me.
“Claire, don't do this.””
I watched the agents escort her away.
She turned back once.
“I really did love you.””
I didn't answer.
Because perhaps that was the worst part.
Maybe she had loved me.
Maybe she had even meant some of the things she said.
But she had accepted money to betray me, and no amount of affection could change that.
At the federal office, Agent Grant placed my father's letter inside an evidence sleeve.
“We're reopening the investigation into General Hayes's reported death.””
“Can you find him?””
“We'll try.””
“I don't want you to try. I want you to find him.””
She nodded.
“There's something else we recovered from Rebecca's phone.””
She opened a photograph.
It showed a private property in rural Virginia.
A large house surrounded by trees.
A black SUV was parked outside.
“Is that where my father lives?””
“We believe so.””
“Then take me there.””
“Commander, we need to approach this carefully.””
“He's my father.””
“And he's potentially involved in a conspiracy that has already resulted in multiple assaults, fraud, and a suspected attempted murder.””
I looked at her.
“Then I suppose he has a lot to explain.””
Agent Grant studied me.
Finally, she agreed to arrange a controlled visit.
Before we left, Daniel appeared at the office.
I hadn't spoken to him since he walked out of my house.
He looked exhausted.
“Claire.””
I didn't turn.
“I thought I told you to stay away.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you here?””
He placed a small flash drive on the table.
“Because I found something in Nathan's original correspondence.””
I looked at it.
“What?””
“Your mother sent me a letter eleven years ago.””
My breath caught.
“What did it say?””
Daniel swallowed.
“She said your father had become involved in a project that would eventually put you in danger.””
I stared at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I didn't know whether she was alive, and I couldn't verify the information.””
I picked up the flash drive.
“What's on it?””
“A recording.””
He hesitated.
“Your father discussing the original operation.””
I inserted it into the computer.
A man's voice filled the room.
My father's voice.
“If Claire survives, make sure she never gets access to the original research. She cannot know what the system was designed to do.””
I looked at Daniel.
“What does that mean?””
He didn't answer.
The recording continued.
Then another voice spoke.
Evelyn Halston.
“Andrew, what about the girl?””
My father's response was immediate.
“She's my daughter. I'll handle her.””
The recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
My father hadn't simply known about the theft.
He had been directing it.
And the system I had designed to help wounded veterans might have been only a small part of something much larger.
Agent Grant entered with a new report.
“Commander, we've identified the original purpose of the classified recovery project.””
I turned.
“What was it?””
She placed a document in front of me.
The title made my stomach tighten.
*PROJECT PHOENIX — AUTONOMOUS MILITARY MOBILITY AND PERSONNEL CONTROL SYSTEM.*
My invention had never been intended solely for rehabilitation.
May you like
Someone had been planning to use it for something else.
And my father had been involved from the beginning.
