Chapter 4: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Nobody moved.
For three full seconds, the only sound in the room was the steady beep of Abigail's heart monitor.
The gray-haired man stood in the doorway.
His face had changed with age, but not enough to hide the features I remembered from a classified photograph taken four years earlier.
Ethan Ferguson.
The man the Army had declared dead.
The man Nicholas had just called Dad.
Gregory took one step backward.
“No,” he whispered.
Ethan looked at him.
“Hello, Gregory.””
Gregory's face drained of color.
Nicholas stared at his father as if he'd seen a ghost.
“You're dead.””
Ethan gave a tired smile.
“So I've been told.””
Patricia appeared behind him.
She stopped so abruptly that the security guard nearly walked into her.
Her diamond earrings trembled as she turned pale.
“Ethan.””
He looked at her.
“Patricia.””
She couldn't speak.
I stepped between Ethan and my daughter.
“Who are you?””
Ethan's eyes met mine.
“You know who I am, Colonel.””
“I know who the Army says you are.””
His expression hardened.
“The Army didn't write that report.””
My hand tightened around my phone.
“Then who did?””
Ethan looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.””
I glanced at the security guards.
“Everyone out.””
Nicholas laughed nervously.
“You don't give orders here.””
I turned toward him.
“Your father disagrees.””
Ethan raised one hand.
“Let her speak.””
Nicholas stared at him.
“You've been alive for four years.””
“Yes.””
“And you never contacted us?””
“I couldn't.””
Gregory stepped forward.
“You expect us to believe that?””
Ethan looked at him.
“I expect you to remember what your mother told you.””
Patricia snapped, “Enough.””
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“You told them I was dead.””
“I was protecting this family.””
“You were protecting yourself.””
Nicholas looked between them.
“What is going on?””
I cut in.
“That's what I'm trying to find out.””
Ethan looked at Abigail.
His expression softened.
“You must be Rachel's daughter.””
Abigail nodded cautiously.
“How do you know my mother?””
“I served with her.””
Her eyes widened.
“Where?””
Ethan looked at me.
“Afghanistan.””
The room seemed to shrink.
I remembered the dust.
The heat.
The radios screaming through the night.
Six men.
Six names.
Six families waiting for answers.
And one mission that had ended with no bodies recovered.
Ethan stepped inside.
“Four years ago, your mother was ordered to retrieve six soldiers from a compromised location.””
I stared at him.
“I was ordered to recover them.””
“You were ordered to recover what they wanted you to find.””
My blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?””
Ethan pulled a folded photograph from inside his jacket.
He handed it to me.
I recognized the six faces immediately.
My soldiers.
Alive.
Standing together.
Behind them was a concrete building.
And painted across the wall was the same three-line symbol from Nicholas's folder.
I looked at Ethan.
“Where was this taken?””
“Three days after the Army declared them dead.””
Abigail covered her mouth.
“Mom…”
I couldn't answer.
Ethan continued.
“They weren't dead.””
I stared at the photograph.
“Where are they now?””
His eyes dropped.
“Five are.””
My heart stopped.
“Five?””
He nodded.
“The sixth one never made it out.””
“Who?””
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
Then he looked directly at me.
“Captain Daniel Price.””
My knees nearly buckled.
Daniel had been my second-in-command.
He had been the one who told me to leave when the extraction site collapsed.
He had pushed me toward the helicopter.
Then he'd disappeared.
The Army told me he'd died saving the others.
I had believed it for four years.
Ethan's voice became quieter.
“He saved your life.””
I swallowed.
“Then why did you wait four years to tell me?””
“Because I was being watched.””
“By whom?””
He looked toward Patricia.
She lowered her eyes.
I understood.
The Ferguson family.
Or someone connected to them.
Nicholas stepped toward his father.
“You're lying.””
Ethan looked at him.
“Am I?””
“You're trying to destroy this family.””
“No.””
He pointed at Abigail.
“They already tried to destroy her.””
Nicholas went silent.
Ethan walked closer to the bed.
“Your daughter found something she wasn't supposed to find.””
Abigail's voice shook.
“What?””
“The records.””
“What records?””
“The ones Nicholas keeps hidden.””
Nicholas snapped, “Dad, stop.””
Ethan ignored him.
“You found a ledger, didn't you?””
Abigail looked at me.
Then at Ethan.
“How did you know?””
“Because I planted it.””
Everyone froze.
I stepped forward.
“You planted what?””
“A ledger inside the Ferguson estate.””
Gregory's eyes widened.
“You did what?””
Ethan looked at him.
“I needed someone inside the family to find it.””
Abigail whispered, “I found a black notebook behind a wall panel.””
Nicholas turned toward her.
“You said you never found anything.””
“I lied.””
Ethan nodded.
“She found it.””
I looked at Abigail.
“What was in it?””
“Names.””
“Whose names?””
“People.””
She wiped her tears.
“Doctors. Lawyers. Police officers. Judges.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“And soldiers.””
Ethan looked at me.
“Yes.””
Patricia suddenly moved toward the door.
Ethan blocked her.
“You're not leaving.””
She stared at him.
“You have no right.””
“I've spent four years waiting to say that.””
She whispered, “You don't understand what would happen.””
“I understand perfectly.””
“No, Ethan.””
Her voice cracked.
“If they find out you're alive, they'll kill you.””
Ethan smiled sadly.
“They already tried.””
A sound came from the hallway.
A phone ringing.
Everyone turned.
One of the security guards reached for his belt.
I immediately stepped toward Abigail.
“Stay behind me.””
The ringing stopped.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
It was taken from outside the hospital.
It showed my car.
Underneath it were four words.
*YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT.*
I showed Ethan.
He closed his eyes.
“They found me.””
“Who?””
He looked at me.
“The same people who took the six soldiers.””
Before I could ask anything else, the lights went out.
Abigail screamed.
Emergency lighting flickered red along the corridor.
Then came a gunshot.
The hospital erupted into chaos.
People screamed.
A crash came from the nurses' station.
I grabbed Abigail's hand.
“Move.””
Ethan pulled Nicholas toward the floor.
Gregory dropped behind a chair.
Patricia froze.
Another gunshot cracked through the hallway.
I pushed Abigail into the bathroom and covered her body with mine.
“Mom!””
“Stay down.””
My military instincts took over.
I listened.
Footsteps.
Two sets.
Maybe three.
Moving quickly.
Someone shouted from the hallway.
“Find the colonel!””
I looked at Ethan.
He looked back.
The color disappeared from his face.
“They're here for you.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
I checked the doorway.
“They're here for all of us.””
Then someone tried the handle.
Slowly.
The bathroom door began to open.
May you like
And a man's voice whispered,
“Colonel Gardner, we know you're inside.””
