Chapter 8: The Colonel's Daughter
The explosion wasn't large enough to destroy the facility.
It was designed to trap us.
The ceiling shook.
Dust fell from the pipes.
A sprinkler line burst overhead.
Marcus grabbed the wall.
“Gas.””
I smelled it immediately.
Not natural gas.
Something chemical.
“Move!””
I shouted.
We started down the corridor.
The soldiers were weak.
Four years in captivity had taken a visible toll.
But they moved.
Because they were soldiers.
Because they knew how to survive.
Abigail supported Cole Mercer.
Nicholas helped Aaron.
Gregory carried Tyler's medical bag.
Ethan stayed beside me.
“Where's the exit?””
“North corridor.””
We reached a junction.
Three paths.
Left.
Right.
Straight.
Ethan pointed left.
“That's the old escape route.””
We moved.
A gunshot cracked behind us.
Gregory screamed.
He fell.
Nicholas caught him.
“Gregory!””
Blood spread across Gregory's shoulder.
I turned.
A security officer stood at the far end of the corridor.
I raised my weapon.
He dropped before he could fire again.
“Keep moving!””
We did.
The escape tunnel ended beneath an old maintenance shed.
Cold air hit our faces.
For the first time, I thought we might actually make it out.
Then Nicholas stopped.
“Where's Abigail?””
I turned.
She wasn't with us.
My heart dropped.
“Abigail!””
No answer.
I ran back into the tunnel.
“Mom!””
Her voice came from behind a steel door.
I reached it.
Locked.
“Abigail!””
“I'm here!””
“What happened?””
“I was pulled inside.””
I looked through the narrow window.
She was alone.
Then a voice spoke behind her.
“Hello, Colonel.””
Voss.
I stepped closer.
“Open the door.””
“I don't think you understand the position you're in.””
“You have ten seconds.””
He laughed.
“You really haven't changed.””
“Open it.””
“Do you know why Abigail was selected?””
I looked at my daughter.
She was crying silently.
“Tell me.””
“Because of you.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Your daughter wasn't valuable because of her marriage.””
“Then why?””
“Because she carried something you left behind.””
Abigail stared at him.
“What?””
Voss smiled.
“A genetic record.””
Silence.
I stared at him.
“What are you talking about?””
“Your blood.””
“My blood?””
“You were exposed during Operation Black Lantern.””
Ethan's expression changed.
“Voss.””
“Don't interrupt.””
Voss continued.
“Six soldiers were exposed to a classified biological compound.””
I remembered that night.
The burning smell.
The black smoke.
The strange metallic taste in my mouth.
I'd always been told it was fuel.
It wasn't.
Voss said, “The Army needed a control group.””
I whispered, “We were the control group.””
“Yes.””
“And my daughter?””
“Your daughter inherited a marker.””
Abigail shook her head.
“I don't understand.””
“You weren't supposed to.””
I stepped closer to the door.
“What does the marker do?””
Voss paused.
“It identifies people exposed to the compound.””
I looked at Ethan.
He nodded slowly.
“They were tracking descendants.””
Voss laughed.
“Exactly.””
I turned back.
“You used Nicholas to marry my daughter.””
“Yes.””
“To get access to her medical records.””
“Yes.””
“To see if she carried the marker.””
“Yes.””
My hands shook.
“And when she found the ledger?””
“You became active.””
I understood.
The marriage wasn't the endgame.
It was surveillance.
Nicholas had been assigned to Abigail because she was connected to me.
Because I had survived.
Because they believed something inside my blood could expose what happened.
I looked at Nicholas.
He stood behind me.
Tears filled his eyes.
“Rachel,” he said.
I turned.
“I didn't know.””
“You knew enough.””
“I was told she would be safe.””
“And when she wasn't?””
“I tried to get her out.””
“You locked her in a guest house.””
“To protect her.””
I stared at him.
“You don't get to call a cage protection.””
He lowered his head.
Abigail suddenly shouted.
“Mom!””
I looked through the window.
Voss was holding something against her neck.
A syringe.
“Open the door.””
Voss smiled.
“Put your weapon down.””
I did.
“Now unlock it.””
“No.””
He pressed the syringe closer.
I felt something inside me snap.
“Voss.””
“Yes?””
“If you hurt her, I will spend the rest of my life hunting everyone connected to you.””
He smiled.
“That's what we were hoping you'd say.””
I looked at Abigail.
She was watching me.
Not crying anymore.
Something had changed in her expression.
She looked down.
Then up.
Then she smiled.
Just slightly.
I knew that smile.
It was the same one she'd had at seven when she hid birthday presents behind her back.
I noticed her fingers.
Three taps against the door.
Pause.
Two taps.
Then one.
Three.
Two.
One.
An old military signal.
*Wait.*
I understood.
I looked at Voss.
“Fine.””
I slowly raised my hands.
“You win.””
Voss smiled.
“I knew you'd come around.””
Behind him, Abigail moved one step to the left.
She had a fire alarm lever beside her.
I kept Voss talking.
“What happens now?””
“We take Abigail.””
“Where?””
“Somewhere your rank can't reach.””
“Who ordered it?””
He smiled.
“You've met him.””
“Hale?””
“No.””
My blood chilled.
“Then who?””
Voss looked toward the camera.
“The person who signed your daughter's marriage contract.””
I heard footsteps behind me.
I turned.
Patricia Ferguson stood at the end of the corridor.
She held a gun.
“Rachel.””
Nicholas stared at her.
“Mom?””
Patricia raised the weapon.
“I warned you.””
I looked at her.
“You knew everything.””
She nodded.
“From the beginning.””
Abigail screamed,
“Mom!””
I spun back.
Voss grabbed her.
She pulled the fire alarm.
A deafening siren exploded through the corridor.
The lights flashed.
Voss stumbled.
I kicked the door.
It opened.
I tackled him.
The syringe flew across the floor.
Patricia fired.
The bullet struck the wall.
Nicholas threw himself at his mother.
The gun went skidding.
Gregory grabbed it.
“Mom, stop!””
Patricia screamed.
“You don't understand what she will do to us!””
I pulled Abigail into my arms.
“Are you hurt?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
Then she looked past me.
Her face changed.
“Mom.””
“What?””
She pointed toward Patricia.
“She said *she* would do what?””
Patricia froze.
I turned toward her.
“Who are you afraid of?””
Patricia's eyes filled with tears.
Then she whispered,
“Your commander.””
I stared at her.
“My commander?””
She nodded.
“The man who recruited you.””
Ethan stepped forward.
“That's impossible.””
Patricia looked at him.
“You know it's not.””
I felt the room tilt.
Because there was only one man who had recruited me twenty years earlier.
The one man who had personally signed my first promotion.
The one man whose voice I had trusted for most of my career.
General Marcus Hale was not the mastermind.
He was only following orders.
Patricia looked at me.
“You've been hunting the wrong man.””
Then the lights went out again.
When they came back on, Patricia was gone.
And on the floor beside her dropped weapon was a photograph.
A younger version of me stood in front of an Army flag.
Beside me was my old commanding officer.
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The photograph had one handwritten sentence on the back:
*SHE WAS SELECTED BEFORE SHE WAS EVEN BORN.*
