Chapter 5: The Child I Was Ordered to Forget
The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
“She’s mine.””
Ryan stared at me.
My mother stared at my father.
Even Thomas Vale seemed surprised.
Michael was the only one who moved.
He caught my elbow.
“Emily.””
I pulled away.
“What did you do to her?””
My father shook his head.
“Nothing.””
“You know her.””
“No.””
“You recognized her.””
His face tightened.
“I recognized the photograph.””
“That's not what I asked.””
My voice shook.
“Who is she?””
Dad looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“She is your daughter.””
The world seemed to tilt.
Ryan actually stumbled backward.
Mom covered her mouth.
Michael's eyes closed.
Vale said nothing.
I laughed.
It came out as a broken, breathless sound.
“No.””
Dad's voice was quiet.
“Emily—”
“No.””
I backed away from him.
“You're lying.””
“I wish I were.””
I looked at Michael.
He couldn't meet my eyes.
“Michael?””
He swallowed.
“You had a daughter.””
Had.
The word cut.
“When?””
“Sixteen years ago.””
My knees weakened.
Sixteen years.
The age I'd been when everything happened.
I stared at the image on Vale's phone.
The little girl had dark brown hair.
Mine had been dark brown at twenty-three.
She had the same small crease beside her left eye.
The same habit of pressing her lips together when she was frightened.
My stomach twisted.
“What was her name?””
Nobody answered.
I turned toward my father.
“What was her name?””
He whispered it.
“Claire.””
The name moved through me like a memory trying to surface.
Claire.
Claire.
I pressed my fingertips to my forehead.
A smell.
Lavender.
A hospital blanket.
A tiny cry.
A woman's voice saying, “She's perfect.””
I opened my eyes.
“I held her.””
Dad nodded.
“Once.””
I stared at him.
“You knew.””
“Yes.””
“You knew I had a baby.””
“Yes.””
“You let me believe…”
My voice broke.
“What did you let me believe?””
Dad couldn't answer.
Mom finally stepped forward.
“Emily, it wasn't supposed to happen this way.””
I looked at her.
“Did you know?””
Tears rolled down her face.
“Yes.””
My chest tightened.
“You knew about Claire.””
“Yes.””
“And you never told me.””
Mom looked at Ryan.
Then at me.
“We were told you would try to find her.””
“Of course I would.””
“They said you'd destroy yourself.””
“I would have.””
She nodded miserably.
“I know.””
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I whispered, “Where was she?””
My father answered.
“Everywhere except with you.””
The phrase was so cruelly vague that I almost didn't understand it.
“What does that mean?””
“She was moved.””
“By whom?””
“The program.””
I looked at Vale.
He nodded.
“Your daughter was born inside an operation designed to disappear people.””
Michael stepped toward me.
“Emily, listen to me.””
“No.””
He stopped.
“You all keep telling me to listen.””
My hands were shaking.
“Someone is holding my daughter on a screen, and you want me to listen?””
Vale spoke.
“She isn't in danger yet.””
I rounded on him.
“Yet?””
He didn't blink.
“You have until the timer runs out.””
“What timer?””
He held up his phone.
“Thirty-one minutes.””
Ryan looked toward Hayes.
“Can you trace it?””
Hayes was already speaking into his radio.
“Team, isolate the signal. I want the device location and any secondary feeds. Do not move until we confirm.””
He turned toward Vale.
“You're done here.””
Vale smiled.
“Not until Emily comes with me.””
Michael stepped closer.
“You're not taking her.””
Vale's expression changed.
“You still don't understand. I'm not the one who decided where she goes.””
“Then who did?””
Vale looked at my father.
“Ask Robert.””
Everyone turned.
Dad looked exhausted.
“There was an arrangement.””
“With who?”” I asked.
Dad rubbed his face.
“Your daughter was born premature.””
I froze.
“You never told me she was premature.””
“You weren't conscious.””
“When?””
“Three weeks before we told everyone you left the country.””
I stared at him.
He continued.
“She was very sick.””
My voice dropped.
“Was she going to die?””
“No.””
A pause.
“But they thought she might.””
“Who?””
“The doctors connected to the program.””
I felt dizzy.
“So why did you take her?””
Dad shook his head.
“We didn't.””
I frowned.
“Then who did?””
Michael said, “I did.””
I looked at him.
He looked broken.
“I took Claire.””
“Why?””
“Because they were going to use her to control you.””
I couldn't breathe.
Michael continued.
“They knew you had refused to cooperate. They knew you would do anything for your child.””
“You hid her from me to protect me?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't you bring her back?””
His eyes filled.
“Because by then, they were watching every move we made.””
I shook my head.
“You could have told me.””
“If I told you, they'd know where she was.””
“So you let me mourn a child who was alive.””
Michael's voice cracked.
“I thought it was better than letting them kill her.””
I turned away.
For years, I had believed the emptiness inside me came from losing a career, a family, a home.
Now I understood it had a face.
A name.
Claire.
I looked at Vale.
“Why are you showing her to me now?””
His answer was immediate.
“Because she's no longer a child we can hide.””
“What does that mean?””
“She knows about you.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“She has been asking questions.””
“Since when?””
“Since she turned eight.””
Eight.
Four years ago.
“What did you tell her?””
“That her mother was a hero.””
I almost laughed.
“That's not true.””
Vale looked at me.
“It is.””
“No. Heroes don't abandon their children.””
“You didn't abandon her.””
“My daughter grew up without me.””
“Because your family lied.””
I looked at Dad.
“Why?””
Dad lowered his eyes.
“Because Claire wasn't the only thing they were hiding.””
Michael went still.
“What?””
Dad looked at me.
“Ryan wasn't the target.””
I frowned.
“What are you talking about?””
“They wanted Claire.””
I shook my head.
“Why?””
Dad's voice became barely audible.
“Because she carries your access.””
Mercer suddenly stepped forward.
“Robert, stop.””
Dad ignored him.
“Northstar wasn't just an intelligence program. It was a transfer protocol.””
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
“It means certain identities could be moved from one system to another. Records. Credentials.
Accounts. Access.””
My blood ran cold.
“My access?””
Dad nodded.
“You were one of the few people with authorization across multiple systems.””
Vale interrupted.
“And Claire inherited it.””
I stared at him.
“She's eight.””
“Your daughter isn't important because of what she knows.””
He lifted the phone.
“She is important because of what she is.””
Ryan's voice was sharp.
“She's a child.””
“Yes.””
“Then leave her alone.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because someone else already has her.””
The smile vanished from Vale's face.
For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid.
He turned toward Michael.
“Your old friends.””
Michael's eyes narrowed.
“What?””
“They took Claire from us six months ago.””
My heart stopped.
“You said thirty-one minutes.””
Vale nodded.
“They don't need you alive.””
He looked directly at me.
“They need you desperate.””
A cold silence settled over us.
Hayes approached.
“Who took the girl?””
Vale hesitated.
“Black Meridian.””
Mercer went rigid.
Michael whispered, “They were dismantled.””
“Officially.””
Hayes looked at Mercer.
“You knew they survived?””
“I suspected.””
“Why didn't you tell anyone?””
Mercer looked at me.
“Because I was trying to find Claire first.””
I stared at him.
“You've known where she was?””
“Not exactly.””
“But you knew she existed.””
“Yes.””
“You've been looking for her.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
He stepped closer.
“Because sixteen years ago, when you were taken in for the memory procedure, you left me one instruction.””
I shook my head.
“I don't remember.””
“You told me something.””
“What?””
His eyes held mine.
“You said, ‘If I forget her, make sure someone remembers.’”
I started crying.
I hadn't realized it until the first tear hit my hand.
Ryan moved beside me.
He didn't speak.
He just took my hand.
The way he had when we were children.
I looked at him.
“I had a baby.””
He nodded.
“I know.””
“No. I mean…”
My voice broke.
“I had a daughter, and I forgot her.””
Ryan squeezed my hand.
“Then we'll find her.””
Dad looked at him.
“Ryan—”
My brother turned.
“Don't.””
Dad fell silent.
Ryan's voice was low.
“For once, Dad, don't tell us what we can survive.””
The radio on Hayes's shoulder crackled.
His expression changed.
“Commander.””
A voice answered.
“We have a partial location.””
Hayes looked at Vale.
“Where?””
“San Diego County. Moving south.””
“Moving?””
“Vehicle is heading toward the coast.””
My pulse accelerated.
“How long?””
The radio hissed.
Then:
“Approximately twenty-six minutes until they reach the handoff point.””
Vale looked at me.
“You don't have much time.””
Hayes turned toward his team.
“Prepare vehicles.””
Michael moved immediately.
“I'll go.””
Mercer blocked him.
“No.””
“I know Black Meridian.””
“So do I.””
“You know the bureaucracy. I know them.””
Mercer stared at him.
Then looked at me.
“Emily comes with me.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Everyone stopped.
“I don't want either of you deciding what happens to my daughter anymore.””
Michael's eyes softened.
“Emily…”
“I forgot her once.””
I wiped my tears.
“I won't do it again.””
Hayes stepped forward.
“We can take you to the extraction point.””
“I want to go where she is.””
“That may not be possible.””
“Then make it possible.””
He studied me.
Something shifted in his expression.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.””
Dad stepped toward us.
“Emily, you can't go.””
I turned.
“You lost the right to decide that.””
His face crumpled.
“I was trying to save you.””
“You saved yourself.””
He flinched.
I turned away.
Behind me, Mom whispered my name.
I didn't stop.
I walked toward the exit.
Ryan followed.
Michael followed him.
And as we crossed beneath the flapping edge of the ceremony tent, my phone buzzed.
A number I didn't recognize.
One message.
*Mommy, are you coming this time?*
I stopped dead.
Ryan looked over my shoulder.
Michael's face went white.
Because beneath Claire's message was a second line.
*He says you still have until the timer reaches zero.*
May you like
And attached to it was a photograph of Claire standing beside someone whose face I knew better than anyone alive.
My own father.
