The office door slammed behind us as bullets struck the walls.
My mother crossed to the filing cabinet and pulled out the bottom drawer.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
“Help me.”
I grabbed the cabinet and shoved.
It moved two inches.
Behind it was a narrow metal panel.
My mother entered a code.
The panel clicked.
A section of flooring lifted.
Cold air rushed upward.
“You knew about this?”
“I knew your father built it.”
We climbed down.
I closed the panel above us just as footsteps entered the office.
The tunnel was barely wide enough for two people.
Emergency lights flickered along the walls.
We moved quickly.
My mother knew every turn.
“Where does this go?”
“An old service road.”
“Where are they taking Jason?”
“I don't know.”
“You know more than you're telling me.”
She didn't answer.
I stopped.
“So did you arrange my assignments?”
She turned.
“No.”
“Did you know?”
“Yes.”
“That's almost as bad.”
“I tried to stop it.”
“When?”
“Before your first deployment.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because the people controlling the assignments were higher than I could reach.”
I stared at her.
“That sounds like an excuse.”
“It isn't.”
She reached into her coat and handed me a small metal key.
“This will explain more than I can.”
“What is it?”
“Your father's archive.”
I looked at the key.
“Where?”
“Beneath his office.”
The tunnel ended at a rusted steel door.
My mother opened it.
We emerged behind an abandoned maintenance building.
The storm had weakened.
Dawn was beginning to stain the horizon.
My radio suddenly crackled.
A voice came through.
“Major Hale.”
I froze.
It was Alvarez.
“Major, respond.”
I grabbed the radio.
“Alvarez.”
Relief entered her voice.
“Thank God.”
“What happened?”
“We restored partial communications.”
“Is Captain Mercer alive?”
“No.”
I looked at my mother.
“Listen carefully. Jason was taken from my father's house.”
“I know.”
My eyes narrowed.
“You know?”
“We intercepted a vehicle leaving the property.”
“Where?”
“North.”
“I'm going.”
“Major, don't.”
“I have no choice.”
“That's exactly what they want.”
My mother touched my arm.
“She’s right.”
I turned toward her.
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Your father.”
I hated that answer.
But I knew she was right.
We drove back toward town.
My father was being treated at a private medical facility by the time we arrived.
Two security officers stood outside his room.
I entered alone.
He looked older than he had twelve hours earlier.
A bandage covered his temple.
His eyes widened when he saw me.
Then he saw my mother behind me.
His face collapsed.
“Claire.”
My mother said nothing.
My father looked at me.
“You found her.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
“I never wanted you to know this way.”
“How did you want me to know?”
He didn't answer.
I placed the metal key on his bedside table.
“What does this open?”
His expression changed.
“The archive.”
“Where?”
He whispered an address.
I already knew it.
His office.
I stepped closer.
“Who took Jason?”
He swallowed.
“Your mother.”
My mother stiffened.
“What?”
My father shook his head.
“No. Not Claire.”
He looked at me.
“Her sister.”
I stared at him.
My mother went pale.
“My sister died.”
“No.”
My father's voice broke.
“She survived too.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Who is she?”
My father whispered the name.
I had seen it before.
In the old logistics records.
On one of the missing shipment manifests.
My mother's sister had been listed as a civilian contractor.
But I had always thought the name belonged to someone else.
“She was the one running the network,” Dad said.
My mother shook her head.
“She was never the leader.”
“She became one.”
My father looked at me.
“She took Jason because she believes he has the archive key.”
I glanced at the metal key.
“So she thinks I have it.”
“You do.”
I looked down.
The key felt suddenly heavier.
My father reached beneath his pillow and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“There's something else.”
I opened it.
It was an old photograph.
My mother.
My aunt.
My father.
And a much younger Captain Mercer.
Standing behind them.
My blood ran cold.
“Mercer was there from the beginning.”
My father nodded.
“Your career wasn't just monitored.”
He looked directly at me.
“You were being tested.”
“For what?”
“To see whether you would eventually uncover the organization.”
I stared at him.
“And if I did?”
“They planned to recruit you.”
I almost laughed.
“They spent my whole life manipulating me just to recruit me?”
My mother stepped closer.
“No.”
She looked at the photograph.
“They wanted to know whether you would become like them.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Before she could answer, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Jason's voice came through.
“Becca.”
I closed my eyes.
“Jason, where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“Look around.”
“I can't see much.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
A woman's voice interrupted.
“Enough.”
My mother's face changed.
She recognized it.
Her sister.
“Claire,” the woman said through the phone.
My mother stepped closer.
“I’m here.”
“You shouldn't have come back.”
“I had to.”
“You always thought you could save her.”
My mother's jaw tightened.
“I did save her.”
“No. You made her useful.”
I felt my stomach turn.
The woman continued.
“Now she has the archive.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“You want the key?”
“No.”
A pause.
“We want her.”
The call ended.
I looked at my mother.
She already understood.
“What does she want me to do?”
My mother answered quietly.
“She wants you to finish what they started.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: My Aunt Offered Jason’s Life in Exchange for My Obedience, but the Archive Revealed Why My Family Had Been Manipulating Me Since Childhood
My Father Asked Me to Disappear for Christmas, and Before Midnight a Highway Disaster Exposed a Secret Buried Since Fort Bragg
Part 6 of 12
