Chapter 10 - MARCUS HALE
Marcus Hale looked nothing like the monster I had imagined.
He was older.
Maybe sixty.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Tired eyes.
He sat behind a glass partition in an interrogation room.
No handcuffs.
No lawyer.
No weapons.
He had walked into a federal building and surrendered.
I entered alone.
He looked up.
“You look like your father.”
I sat.
“Don't.”
He smiled faintly.
“You always hated hearing that.”
“How do you know?”
“I knew your father for thirty years.”
“You worked with him.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed him.”
“No.”
“Then why did he call you dangerous?”
Marcus leaned back.
“Because I was.”
I studied him.
“Who is the Director?”
He smiled.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What is the right one?”
“Who created him?”
I stared.
Marcus continued.
“Your father didn't discover the network.”
“He helped create it.”
I felt as if the floor had shifted.
“That isn't true.”
“It is.”
“My father served this country.”
“So did I.”
“And you became a criminal.”
“So did your father.”
I stood.
“You're lying.”
Marcus didn't react.
“Sit down, Colonel.”
I remained standing.
“Tell me what happened to him.”
He looked at me.
“Your father discovered that the intelligence community had a problem.”
“What problem?”
“People.”
“That's vague.”
“People with access. People with ambition. People willing to sell information.”
“And he built a network to stop them?”
Marcus nodded.
“An unofficial one.”
“Without authorization?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because official systems were compromised.”
I thought of Whitaker.
“Who else knew?”
“Several people.”
“Names.”
Marcus smiled.
“You already know one.”
“Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“Whitaker?”
Marcus's smile disappeared.
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Whitaker do?”
“He helped your father.”
“Then why is his name on the list?”
“Because your father suspected everyone.”
I sat again.
“Who killed my father?”
Marcus looked at me.
“Your father wasn't killed because of the network.”
“Then why?”
“Because of what he discovered after leaving it.”
“What?”
Marcus leaned forward.
“He discovered the network had evolved.”
“Into what?”
“A business.”
I frowned.
“Northbridge?”
“Yes.”
“Why use my identity?”
“Because your father left something behind.”
“What?”
Marcus looked toward the camera.
Then back at me.
“A key.”
“To what?”
“The original archive.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“What archive?”
“The complete record of the network.”
“Where is it?”
Marcus smiled.
“With you.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You've had it for years.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My father never gave me anything.”
“He did.”
“When?”
Marcus stared at me.
“Your wedding.”
I remembered.
My father had given me a small wooden box.
Inside was a silver necklace.
I had worn it for years.
Then, after his death, I put it away.
I had never thought about it again.
I whispered:
“The necklace.”
Marcus nodded.
“The pendant contains a storage device.”
My entire body went cold.
“Why would my father hide it there?”
“Because no one would search a wedding gift.”
I stood.
“Where is Evelyn?”
Marcus looked at me.
“She knows about the necklace.”
“Where is she?”
“She'll come for it.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
I stared.
“How do you know?”
“Because she knows I surrendered.”
“Then what does she want?”
Marcus leaned forward.
“Not the necklace.”
“What?”
“She wants you to unlock it.”
I frowned.
“Why can't she?”
“Because the archive recognizes your father's bloodline.”
I stared at him.
“This sounds insane.”
“Your father was paranoid.”
“You knew him.”
“I did.”
“What happened between you?”
Marcus's eyes hardened.
“I betrayed him once.”
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
The same year my father died.
“What did you do?”
“I gave Evelyn information.”
My chest tightened.
“What information?”
“Your father's location.”
I stared at him.
“You helped kill him.”
Marcus looked down.
“Yes.”
Silence filled the room.
I felt rage rising.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you waited eight years?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Evelyn?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Marcus looked directly at me.
“The Director.”
The door behind me opened.
General Whitaker entered.
His face was grim.
“Colonel.”
I turned.
“Did you know Marcus helped locate my father?”
Whitaker stopped.
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“And you never told me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I couldn't prove it.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Whitaker looked at Marcus.
“You shouldn't have surrendered.”
Marcus smiled.
“I had no choice.”
Whitaker turned toward me.
“We need to move.”
“Why?”
“Because the building isn't secure.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot cracked through the hallway.
The glass beside me shattered.
Whitaker grabbed my shoulder.
“Down!”
I dropped.
Marcus was hit.
He collapsed.
Security teams flooded the room.
I crawled toward him.
“Marcus!”
He grabbed my wrist.
Blood covered his shirt.
“Listen.”
“What?”
“Your father didn't die in the house.”
I froze.
“Where did he die?”
Marcus coughed.
“Pentagon.”
Then he whispered:
“Ask who signed the death certificate.”
His eyes closed.
I looked up.
Whitaker was standing across the room.
His face had gone completely pale.
And suddenly I knew.
The next secret wasn't about Marcus.
May you like
It was about my father's death.
And someone inside the government had buried the truth.
