Chapter 8 - THE HOUSE IN THE WOODS
I knew it was a trap.
Whitmore knew it was a trap.
Everyone knew it was a trap.
But Tiffany was still my sister.
I couldn't leave her.
Whitmore sent a team.
We approached the property after midnight.
The house stood in darkness.
No cars.
No lights.
No movement.
Too quiet.
I entered through the back.
“Tiffany?”
Nothing.
Then I heard a sound upstairs.
A door closing.
I moved toward the staircase.
A voice whispered:
“Elena.”
Tiffany.
I ran upstairs.
She was tied to a chair.
Her face was bruised.
But alive.
I cut the restraints.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Who did this?”
She shook her head.
“I never saw their faces.”
Then she grabbed my arm.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“They wanted the ledger.”
“I know.”
“They said Dad had hidden it.”
“He did.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Dad didn't hide it.”
My heart stopped.
“Who did?”
She whispered:
“Grandma.”
I stared.
“Where?”
Tiffany pointed toward the hallway.
“The room nobody ever opened.”
I knew the room.
Grandma's study.
The one my father had always kept locked.
We entered.
Dust covered everything.
Books.
Old furniture.
A desk.
I opened drawers.
Nothing.
Then Tiffany noticed the fireplace.
“Look.”
There was a small metal plate beneath the mantel.
I pressed it.
A section of wall opened.
Inside was a safe.
Whitmore's team arrived.
We opened it.
Inside was the ledger.
But there was also a letter.
This one was addressed to both of us.
To Elena and Tiffany.
Tiffany began crying.
I opened it.
I know your father will eventually make a choice. I hope he chooses you over fear.
The next paragraph was worse.
But there is one person I fear more than your father.
A name.
The retired commander.
Then:
He has spent years building a reputation no one will question. He will use your father's mistakes to hide his own crimes.
I turned the page.
Elena, you were never sent away because you were unwanted. You were sent away because I knew your father would eventually be forced to choose between silence and your safety.
My eyes blurred.
Grandma had known.
She had known everything.
Then I reached the final line.
The man you believe betrayed your unit was trying to save you.
I dropped the letter.
Daniel Mercer.
The man I'd hated for five years.
The man my family had blamed.
The man who had supposedly sold us out.
He had actually tried to warn us.
Tiffany whispered:
“Why would Dad let you believe that?”
I looked at her.
“Because someone wanted me to.”
Then we heard footsteps downstairs.
Whitmore raised his hand.
Everyone froze.
A man's voice echoed through the house.
“You have the ledger.”
I recognized the voice.
The retired commander.
He stepped into the doorway.
Older now.
Gray hair.
Perfect posture.
The same face I'd seen in military photographs.
He smiled.
“You always were your grandmother's favorite.”
My blood ran cold.
He looked at Tiffany.
Then at me.
“You've caused a great deal of trouble.”
I stepped forward.
“You murdered my team.”
He smiled faintly.
“No.”
He looked toward the ledger.
“Your father did.”
My heart stopped.
“That isn't true.”
“He gave me the information.”
“He didn't know what you would do.”
“He knew enough.”
Whitmore stepped beside me.
“It's over.”
The commander laughed.
“Is it?”
Then he pulled out his phone.
“Because I believe your entire country is about to learn exactly what kind of soldier your captain really is.”
He pressed a button.
My phone buzzed.
A video.
Me.
Five years earlier.
In uniform.
Standing over a classified map.
May you like
The commander smiled.
“Let's see how long your reputation survives.”
