Chapter 13 - THE HUNT BEGINS
At midnight, I became a different kind of commander.
No public orders.
No official task force.
No announcements.
Only four people knew what we were doing.
Me.
General Whitaker.
Ryan.
And a cyber specialist named Maya Chen.
Maya had been working in military intelligence for nine years.
She was quiet.
Brilliant.
And paranoid.
Exactly what I needed.
We connected the archive.
The screen filled with names.
Hundreds.
Accounts.
Organizations.
Companies.
Political donors.
Defense contractors.
Military officers.
Judges.
Media executives.
The network was enormous.
But there was one recurring symbol.
A black circle.
Maya zoomed in.
“That's their internal identifier.”
“For what?”
“Priority assets.”
“How many?”
She counted.
“Forty-three.”
Then she froze.
“What?”
She pointed at the screen.
“There's one more.”
I leaned closer.
My name.
COLONEL ELENA HAYES — PRIORITY ASSET 01.
My stomach dropped.
“Why am I number one?”
Maya opened the file.
The answer appeared.
BLOODLINE ACCESS.
I looked at Ryan.
“My father.”
“Yes.”
The archive had been designed to recognize his descendants.
Me.
Maybe only me.
That explained everything.
My father hadn't simply hidden information.
He had created a lock.
And I was the key.
Maya continued.
“There are instructions here.”
“Read them.”
She did.
When Asset 01 activates archive, initiate contingency protocol.
“What contingency?”
Maya opened another file.
A countdown appeared.
72:00:00
I stared.
“What is that?”
Ryan whispered:
“A dead-man switch.”
“For what?”
Maya shook her head.
“I don't know yet.”
I looked at the timer.
It was already running.
Seventy-one hours.
Something would happen.
Not to me.
To them.
My father had built a final weapon.
And I had just activated it.
Then the lights in the building went out.
Maya looked at me.
“They found us.”
We grabbed our equipment.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Security teams moved into position.
Ryan looked terrified.
I grabbed his shoulder.
“Stay behind me.”
He nodded.
The first attacker entered through the east corridor.
Two shots.
Down.
Another.
Down.
The attackers were trained.
Not amateurs.
They moved like professionals.
I recognized the tactics.
Military.
That meant someone had supplied them.
We fell back into the command room.
Maya locked the door.
“Colonel, we have a problem.”
“What?”
She turned the monitor toward me.
The archive had begun transmitting.
“To whom?”
“I don't know.”
“Can you stop it?”
“No.”
I stared at the screen.
My father had planned this.
The archive wasn't simply evidence.
It was a broadcast.
Once activated, it would begin releasing the network's secrets.
Unless someone stopped it.
The Director.
I finally understood.
They didn't want the archive because it could expose them.
They wanted me because only I could shut it down.
A voice came through the building speakers.
“Colonel Hayes.”
Evelyn.
“Give us the archive.”
I stepped toward the speaker.
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“I understand enough.”
“You will destroy lives.”
“You destroyed mine.”
Silence.
Then:
“Your father made the same mistake.”
I froze.
“What mistake?”
“He believed truth was worth the cost.”
“What happened to him?”
“He couldn't pay it.”
I clenched my jaw.
“You killed him.”
“No.”
Her voice became almost gentle.
“Someone else did.”
“Who?”
“Ask your husband.”
I turned.
Ryan had gone pale.
I looked at him.
“What did she mean?”
He didn't answer.
“Ryan.”
He whispered:
“I know who was in the room.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
He looked at me.
“The Director.”
“Who?”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“Your father called him…”
He swallowed.
“Brother.”
I stared.
My father had a brother.
My uncle.
I hadn't seen him since I was a child.
He had disappeared after a family dispute.
Everyone said he moved overseas.
I suddenly remembered his name.
Daniel Hayes.
My father's younger brother.
I whispered:
“My uncle.”
Ryan nodded.
“He's the Director.”
The room became silent.
Then Maya looked at the archive.
“Colonel…”
“What?”
“The system just identified the Director.”
A name appeared.
DANIEL HAYES.
I stared at it.
My uncle.
The man who had once carried me on his shoulders.
The man who had attended my childhood birthday parties.
The man my father had trusted.
He had built the network.
He had killed my father.
And now he wanted me.
My phone rang.
I answered.
My uncle's voice came through.
“Hello, Elena.”
I couldn't speak.
“I wondered when you'd finally find me.”
I whispered:
“Why?”
He laughed softly.
“Because your father chose you.”
“For what?”
“To finish what he started.”
The line went dead.
I looked at the countdown.
68:41:13
Three days.
May you like
Three days until my father's final secret was released.
And now I knew exactly who I was fighting.
