Chapter 9: The Hidden Forty-Third
The number stayed in my mind.
Forty-three.
Not forty-two.
Forty-three.
A single number that changed everything I believed about my own life.
I looked at Elijah.
“You expect me to believe I forgot an entire person?””
“Yes.””
“Twenty years?””
“Yes.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
The Commander-in-Chief watched me carefully.
“Ava.””
I turned toward him.
“No, sir.””
My voice sharpened.
“I remember that mission.””
I pointed at the file.
“I remember every soldier.””
I looked at Elijah.
“I remember every face.””
My breathing became heavier.
“I remember who lived.””
A pause.
“I remember who died.””
Elijah didn’t argue.
He simply said:
“That’s exactly why they needed you to remember it differently.””
The words made me freeze.
The Commander-in-Chief opened the folder again.
“Captain Brooks, what happened to General Carter’s memory?””
Elijah looked uncomfortable.
“Not her memory.””
“Then what?””
“The record of her memory.””
I stared.
“What does that mean?””
“Your official reports. Your statements. Your recordings. Everything.””
He tapped the folder.
“They were altered.””
The Commander-in-Chief’s jaw tightened.
“Who had access?””
Elijah looked at him.
“More people than you think.””
The answer bothered me.
Because it wasn’t an accusation.
It was a warning.
I picked up the photograph again.
My handwriting stared back at me.
Trust no commander above you.
I looked at Elijah.
“Did I write this?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“The night before the mission.””
“Why?””
He hesitated.
“Because you discovered something.””
“What?””
He looked at the Commander-in-Chief.
Then back at me.
“You discovered that the mission briefing was false.””
The room went quiet.
I closed my eyes.
A memory flashed.
A dark room.
A computer screen.
A file.
A name.
Then nothing.
Gone.
Like someone had opened a door in my mind and removed everything behind it.
I touched my temple.
Elijah noticed.
“What do you remember?””
“Fragments.””
“Tell me.””
I looked at him.
“A room.””
“What room?””
“I don’t know.””
“Anything else?””
I closed my eyes.
“A voice.””
“Whose?””
I tried to hear it.
A man speaking.
Calm.
Cold.
“You were never supposed to find this.””
My eyes opened.
Elijah went pale.
“What?””
I looked at him.
“I heard someone say that.””
“When?””
“I don’t know.””
The Commander-in-Chief stepped closer.
“General, what else?””
I shook my head.
“Nothing.””
But I was lying.
Because one more thing had returned.
A face.
Not clear.
Not complete.
But familiar.
Someone standing beside the computer.
Someone I trusted.
Someone I never suspected.
Elijah noticed.
“You remembered someone.””
I said nothing.
“Ava.””
My hands tightened.
“It was…”
The ballroom doors suddenly opened.
A security officer rushed inside.
“Sir.””
The Commander-in-Chief turned.
“What happened?””
The officer looked nervous.
“We have a problem.””
“What problem?””
He looked at me.
Then at Elijah.
“Colonel Hayes escaped custody.””
The room changed instantly.
The Commander-in-Chief’s expression hardened.
“When?””
“Three minutes ago.””
“How?””
The officer hesitated.
“He was not alone.””
Elijah’s face changed.
“Who helped him?””
The officer looked down.
“We don’t know.””
The Commander-in-Chief stepped forward.
“Find out.””
“Yes, sir.””
The officer moved away.
But before leaving, he stopped.
“One more thing.””
The Commander-in-Chief looked at him.
“What?””
The officer swallowed.
“Colonel Hayes left a message.””
Nobody spoke.
“What message?”” I asked.
The officer looked directly at me.
“He said…”
A pause.
“He said General Carter will remember everything soon.””
My blood ran cold.
The Commander-in-Chief stared.
Elijah whispered:
“He knows.””
I looked toward the empty doorway.
“Knows what?””
Elijah’s expression was filled with fear.
“That the missing memory is coming back.””
The lights above us flickered once.
Then stopped.
And my phone vibrated.
Another message.
Unknown number.
This time, only three words appeared.
*Look behind you.*
I turned slowly.
At the far end of the ballroom, beneath the crystal chandelier, someone had left a small black folder on the table.
A folder that wasn’t there before.
The Commander-in-Chief noticed it too.
Elijah stepped back.
“No.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
His face had gone pale.
“That folder…”
He swallowed.
“That’s the same folder they used twenty years ago.””
I walked toward it.
One step.
Two.
Three.
My hand reached for the cover.
May you like
And written across the front were five words:
*General Carter’s Final Statement.*
