The tunnel seemed to hold its breath.
Water dripped from the ceiling.
Somewhere behind us, footsteps splashed closer.
My father turned toward the sound.
“Keep moving.”
Ward's voice came again.
“Lena, listen to me!”
Ortiz raised her weapon.
“If you have something to say, say it now.”
Ward appeared at the far end of the tunnel.
She wasn't carrying a rifle.
Her hands were visible.
She looked exhausted.
“Elias Cross isn't the victim he wants you to believe.”
My father laughed quietly.
“Still protecting them, Helena?”
Ward ignored him.
She looked at me.
“Your father didn't infiltrate the network.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“He built the first version of it.”
My mother closed her eyes.
I turned toward her.
“Is that true?”
She didn't answer.
That was enough.
My father stepped forward.
“I made mistakes.”
“That isn't what she said.”
“I was young.”
“You were my father.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“You watched from a distance while I grew up believing you were dead.”
“I thought distance would keep you safe.”
“You keep saying that.”
He looked away.
Ward came closer.
“Elias was involved before Daniel Cross took control.”
“Then why did my mother stay with him?”
“She didn't.”
Ward pointed at my mother.
“She tried to expose both of them.”
My mother finally spoke.
“I found out what Elias had become.”
My father looked at her.
“You found out after I had already left.”
“I found out before you left.”
Silence.
The pieces didn't fit.
I looked between them.
“Then what is the ledger?”
Ward answered.
“Evidence.”
“Of my father's crimes?”
“Of everyone's.”
My father shook his head.
“Not everyone.”
Ward's expression hardened.
“You still protect them.”
“Because you don't understand what happened.”
“Then explain it.”
He looked at me.
“I was working undercover.”
Ward laughed bitterly.
“You were working for yourself.”
My father ignored her.
“I discovered Daniel was using military charity accounts to hide payments. I began collecting names. Then I realized someone above him was directing the operation.”
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
“Convenient.”
“He communicated through intermediaries.”
“Who?”
“Graham.”
I looked at my mother.
She nodded slowly.
“Graham was the messenger.”
“So my stepfather wasn't running everything.”
“No,” my father said. “He was terrified of the person above him.”
That explained the fear in his eyes the night he broke into my apartment.
Not fear of arrest.
Fear of someone else.
Ward stepped forward.
“You're leaving out the part where Elias sold information to protect himself.”
My father looked at her.
“And you're leaving out the part where you helped him.”
Her jaw tightened.
“I was ordered.”
“So was I.”
“You enjoyed it.”
“No.”
“Then why did you keep doing it?”
He had no answer.
I looked at both of them.
“Enough.”
They stopped.
“I don't care which one of you has the better excuse. I want the truth.”
My father nodded.
“Then we have to reach the river.”
“Why?”
“Because the people coming after us will destroy the evidence if they catch us here.”
A sharp crack echoed through the tunnel.
A bullet struck the wall beside Ward.
Everyone dropped.
Ortiz shouted.
“Move!”
We ran.
The tunnel narrowed.
My mother held my hand.
Behind us, more shots rang out.
Ward stayed close.
I expected her to turn on us.
She didn't.
We reached a metal ladder.
My father climbed first.
Then me.
The hatch opened beside the river.
Cold night air hit my face.
We emerged beneath a bridge.
A vehicle waited nearby.
My father opened the door.
“No.”
I stopped.
“You expect me to get into a car with you?”
“It's the only way.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn't.”
That answer surprised me.
He looked at me.
“Trust the evidence.”
We got in.
The vehicle moved through the industrial district.
Ward sat opposite me.
Ortiz drove.
My mother sat beside me.
No one spoke for several minutes.
Finally, I asked Ward, “What happened on my eighteenth birthday?”
She looked down.
“Your father gave you the ledger.”
“He gave me a box.”
“Yes.”
“Why did I forget?”
“Because Graham drugged you.”
My mother covered her mouth.
I turned toward her.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Suspected?”
“I found you unconscious the next morning.”
The anger inside me became almost unbearable.
“You let me think I had simply forgotten.”
“I was trying to keep you from remembering.”
“Why?”
“Because you had seen Daniel.”
I stared at her.
“What did he look like?”
“Not the way he does now.”
She took a breath.
“He was younger. He came to the house with your father. They argued. You heard them.”
“I don't remember.”
“You were hiding behind the staircase.”
A fragment surfaced.
A man's voice.
A glass breaking.
My father's hand on my shoulder.
Then darkness.
I looked at Ward.
“Where is the ledger now?”
She answered quietly.
“You hid it yourself.”
“What?”
“Your father put it in the blue box. Graham searched the house but couldn't find it.”
“And then?”
“You moved it.”
I shook my head.
“I was eighteen.”
“You were frightened.”
“Where did I move it?”
Ward looked at my mother.
My mother whispered the answer.
“You mailed it to yourself.”
I stared at her.
“To where?”
“My naval recruitment address.”
The vehicle went silent.
I remembered receiving a package.
Years ago.
A plain cardboard box.
I had thrown it away because I thought it was empty.
Or had I?
My father leaned forward.
“You didn't throw it away.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I watched you open it.”
My heart stopped.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Then where is it?”
He pointed toward the naval base.
“Archive Building Seven.”
I looked at Ortiz.
She understood immediately.
“We go now.”
Ward shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Building Seven is where the person who controls the network works.”
The vehicle slowed.
“What are you saying?”
Ward looked directly at me.
“The ledger isn't hidden there anymore.”
“Where is it?”
She hesitated.
“Your commanding officer has it.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Commander Ward?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Captain Adrian Vale.”
I knew the name.
Everyone in my unit did.
He had been one of the officers who recommended my promotion.
The man who had always told me I had a promising future.
My father looked at me.
“That's why they watched you.”
I understood then.
The person close to me wasn't Ward.
It was someone even closer to the evidence.
Someone who had access to every official record.
Someone who knew exactly where I had been stationed.
The vehicle stopped.
Ortiz looked in the rearview mirror.
“Lena.”
I turned.
A convoy of black vehicles had stopped behind us.
Ward whispered, “They're here.”
My father opened the door.
“Now you decide whether you want the truth badly enough to survive it.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Officer I Trusted With My Career Had Been Watching Me for Years, but His Real Secret Was Much Worse
The Night the Locked Door Opened and Everything I Thought I Knew About My Family Changed
Part 6 of 20
