Chapter 9: The Sixth Man Was Never on the List
Daniel took the phone from my hand and checked the screen.
“She's disconnected.””
“No kidding.””
He returned the phone without looking at me.
“Jonah wasn't supposed to be alive.””
I stared at him.
“My mother just said the same thing.””
“Because Jonah was the one who carried the original drive out of the facility.””
I felt my pulse quicken.
“But Marcus said he hid the recording in the brass bead.””
“He did. Marcus copied part of the evidence. Jonah carried the original data.””
“So why would Rourke want him dead more than the others?””
Daniel glanced toward the diner entrance.
“Because Jonah knew something the rest of us didn't.””
“What?””
“Who ordered the original operation.””
I lowered my voice.
“Rourke?””
“No.””
Daniel's expression changed.
“Rourke took orders from someone above him. Someone with enough authority to authorize the restricted medical program, alter personnel records, and make a federal investigation disappear.””
“Who?””
“I don't know the full chain. But Jonah discovered the name.””
“And that's why he was marked for disposal.””
Daniel nodded.
I looked back at Margaret.
“Why did my mother tell me not to trust Daniel?””
Margaret hesitated.
“Perhaps she was afraid you would believe him without asking difficult questions.””
“That's not an answer either.””
“No,” Margaret said.
“It isn't.””
Daniel returned to the booth and removed a folded document from the inside pocket of his jacket.
“I have something that may help.””
He opened it on the table.
It was a transport manifest dated four years earlier. The paper was worn, and several lines had been blacked out. A handwritten signature appeared at the bottom.
Elias Rourke.
Beneath it, a second signature had been partially erased.
The remaining letters formed a name.
*J. REEVES.*
I leaned closer.
“Jonah signed a transport order?””
“No. That's why the signature was erased. Jonah refused to sign it.””
“What transport?””
“The six men were supposed to be transferred to a secure military recovery facility. Instead, the vehicle took them to Ashford Memorial. The hospital records listed them as deceased, but they were alive.””
“Why would Jonah know enough to refuse?””
“Because he was an intelligence specialist. He had access to the original mission communications.””
Daniel pointed to a handwritten note in the margin.
*SUBJECT 06 — REMOVE FROM PRIMARY ROSTER.*
I looked up.
“Who's Subject Six?””
“Jonah.””
“Why was he removed from the roster?””
“Because his identity was used to create a second record. One said he was dead. The other listed him as an active witness under a protected identity.””
“And the active record is the one I saw on the computer?””
“Possibly.””
I thought about the message accompanying the photograph.
They're alive, Caroline. And one of them knows who ordered your father's death.
Then my mother had said Jonah wasn't supposed to survive.
The pieces didn't fit yet, but they were close enough to cut.
“Where is Jonah now?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I received a message that he was inside the hospital. I don't know his current location.””
“Who sent it?””
“Someone who used Robert's old security code.””
“Could it have been Jonah?””
“Possibly.””
“Could it have been Voss?””
“Also possible.””
I stared at him.
“Then we're working with nothing.””
“We have the archive drive.””
“Which might contain information that has already been deleted.””
“We have your father's recording.””
“Which hasn't told us who ordered his death.””
“And we have Margaret.””
Margaret flinched.
Daniel held up both hands.
“I'm not accusing you. I'm saying you know the hospital records better than anyone else here.””
She looked down at the table.
“I know where the original shift logs were kept. If they're still there, they'll identify who accessed the restricted wing on the night Robert arrived.””
“Then that's where we're going,” I said.
Daniel shook his head.
“Not yet. We need to make a copy of everything first.””
He removed a small laptop from his bag and connected the archive drive.
The computer recognized the device but requested a password.
Daniel tried a sequence of numbers.
Rejected.
Margaret tried an access code from her old employee badge.
Rejected.
I studied the drive.
It was the same model of removable storage device used in my old Navy field kit. My father had been a maintenance specialist. He always used simple passwords based on dates, not because he was careless, but because he believed complicated systems encouraged people to write things down.
I entered my birth date.
Rejected.
I tried the date of his accident.
Rejected.
Then I remembered the three knots.
The bracelet had represented three promises. And my father had always said that the most important promise was the one you made before you knew how difficult it would be to keep.
I entered the date of my first enlistment.
The drive unlocked.
Daniel looked at me.
“How did you know?””
“He taught me how he thought.””
The folder contained several files.
Most were encrypted or corrupted, but one video played immediately.
The image showed a stark room with a metal table and two chairs. My father sat on one side, his hands cuffed in front of him.
Across from him sat a man whose face was obscured by the camera angle.
A voice spoke.
“Where is the original drive, Robert?””
My father lifted his head.
“You already know I won't tell you.””
“Your daughter is serving overseas. A terrible accident could happen to anyone.””
My stomach contracted.
Daniel leaned toward the screen.
The unseen man continued.
“You have a wife. You have a child. You should consider what your stubbornness is costing them.””
My father's voice was steady.
“Caroline has spent her life learning how to protect people. You don't understand her if you think threatening her will make me surrender.””
The man leaned forward.
For the first time, the camera caught part of his face.
A heavy brow.
A small scar near the jaw.
A gold ring on his right hand.
Then he spoke again.
“Your daughter doesn't know who her biological father is. She doesn't know who arranged her career. She doesn't know that every assignment she's received since leaving medical training has been reviewed by people who know exactly what she saw during that mission.””
I stopped breathing.
My military career.
My deployments.
The commendation I had never displayed.
The medical board that ended my service.
Had those things been arranged around me?
My father leaned forward, straining against the cuffs.
“Leave her out of this.””
“Then tell us where the drive is.””
The video ended.
No name appeared.
No face.
Only a timestamp and a document identifier.
I looked at Daniel.
“Who was that man?””
He shook his head slowly.
“I don't know.””
“But he knew about my military assignments.””
“Yes.””
“He knew who my biological father was.””
“Yes.””
“And he had enough authority to threaten an officer's family.””
Daniel's face darkened.
“Whoever he is, he was above Rourke.””
I rewound the video.
The man's gold ring had a distinctive design: a circle intersected by three narrow lines.
I had seen it before.
Not on Voss.
Not on Rourke.
On my father.
He wore a ring with that exact symbol for as long as I could remember. He'd told me it was a keepsake from an old friend who had died in service.
I had never questioned him.
“Daniel,” I said slowly, “what was my father's role before he became a contractor?””
“Electrical maintenance. Logistics systems. He worked with several government facilities.””
“Was he ever an intelligence officer?””
“Not officially.””
“Then why would he have the same ring as the man threatening him?””
Daniel stared at the frozen image.
“Because Robert didn't just discover the operation.””
He paused.
“He may have been part of the network before he turned against it.””
I shook my head.
“No. My father would never have helped people disappear.””
“I didn't say he did. I said we don't know the whole story.””
Before I could respond, the laptop chimed.
A new file had appeared in the directory.
It was labeled with a single word.
*JONAH.*
I clicked it.
A text document opened.
*Caroline, if you've reached this file, the others are still alive. Do not trust Daniel Mercer with the full recording. He knows why Robert Ashworth was targeted, but he doesn't know who gave the final order.*
I looked up sharply.
Daniel had gone completely still.
“Did you write this?”” I asked.
“No.””
“Then who did?””
“Jonah.””
The document continued.
*There is a reason your father kept the last recording away from everyone. The truth about the sixth man is not what the hospital records claim. One of the people listed as dead never existed under that name.*
I read the line again.
One of the people listed as dead never existed.
The six men had been assigned identities, and one had been falsified from the beginning.
But which one?
The document gave a location.
*OLD SURGICAL WING. B-17. MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE.*
I looked at the time.
11:46 p.m.
“It's a trap,” Daniel said.
“Maybe.””
“We're not going back.””
“Then we'll never know which man is real.””
He reached for the laptop.
I pulled it away.
“You don't get to decide what I know.””
“Caroline, I have spent twenty-three years trying to protect you.””
“And I have spent twenty-three years living inside a lie.””
His voice rose.
“If you go back there, you may never get another chance to walk out.””
I stood.
“Then help me make sure I do.””
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Finally, Daniel closed the laptop.
“Fine. We go together. Margaret stays here and sends copies of the files to the outside investigator.””
Margaret nodded.
“I know someone who can help.””
Daniel handed her the archive drive.
“Don't trust anyone who calls from the hospital.””
“I won't.””
I turned toward the exit.
My phone rang again.
My mother.
I answered without stopping.
“Mom, I need you to tell me who ordered Dad's death.””
She was silent.
“Mom?””
When she finally spoke, her voice sounded older than I remembered.
“It wasn't Rourke.””
I stopped.
“Then who was it?””
My mother took a shaky breath.
“Your father knew the person responsible. He trusted him with his life.””
“Who?””
She whispered a name.
And for the second time that night, I felt the world collapse beneath my feet.
“Daniel Mercer.””
I turned slowly toward the man standing beside me.
His face had gone white.
My mother continued.
“Caroline, don't let him tell you he came back to save you.””
The call cut off.
Daniel reached toward me.
I stepped away.
“Did you order my father's death?””
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said the one thing I hadn't expected.
“No.””
May you like
He swallowed.
“But I did something that made it possible.””
