Chapter 6: The Man in the Photograph
The photograph was grainy, badly lit, and only a few seconds old.
But there was no mistaking him.
My father stood beside Claire.
His hand rested on her shoulder.
She looked frightened.
He looked calm.
The message underneath the photograph remained on my screen.
*He says you still have until the timer reaches zero.*
For a moment, the noise around me disappeared.
No engines.
No radios.
No footsteps.
Just one thought.
My father had known where my daughter was.
I turned.
He was still standing beneath the ceremony tent.
Mom was beside him.
Dad looked at my face and immediately understood that I had seen the picture.
“Emily.””
I walked back toward him.
Ryan grabbed my arm.
“Emily, wait.””
I pulled free.
“No.””
Michael came closer.
“Don't confront him here.””
“I've spent sixteen years not confronting him.””
My father looked at the phone.
“I can explain.””
“No.””
I held it up.
“You can explain this.””
Dad stared at the image.
Then his shoulders dropped.
Mom looked at him.
“Robert?””
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“You're in the picture.””
“I haven't seen her in months.””
“Then how did they get this?””
“I don't know.””
I laughed bitterly.
“You always say that.””
Dad looked toward Ryan.
“Son, listen to me.””
Ryan shook his head.
“Don't call me son right now.””
Dad's expression shattered.
“I did what I thought was necessary.””
“For sixteen years?””
“Yes.””
“To protect who?””
Dad looked at me.
“You.””
I pointed at the photograph.
“That girl is eight years old.””
“I know.””
“You knew she was alive.””
“Yes.””
“You knew where she was.””
“I knew where she had been.””
“And you never told me.””
Dad's eyes filled.
“You weren't ready.””
I stared at him.
“Ready?””
“You had been through things you couldn't remember.””
“I was her mother.””
“I know.””
“No. You don't.””
My voice rose.
“I remembered her voice today. I remembered holding her. I remembered being told to forget her. And now you're standing here telling me I wasn't ready?””
Dad whispered, “You would have gone after her.””
“Yes.””
“That would have gotten you killed.””
“I don't care.””
“I do!””
The words exploded from him.
People nearby turned.
Dad took a breath.
“I do care.””
He looked older than he had ten minutes earlier.
“I spent sixteen years believing one of two things would happen. Either you'd remember and come for Claire, or they'd find you before you did.””
I stared at him.
“Who are they?””
Dad shook his head.
“I can't say.””
Michael stepped between us.
“We're wasting time.””
Hayes was waiting near the convoy.
“Emily.””
I looked at him.
“Let's go.””
Dad grabbed my wrist.
I turned sharply.
“Don't touch me.””
He released me.
“Please.””
It was the first time in my entire life I'd heard my father say that word to me.
I almost stopped.
Almost.
Then my phone buzzed again.
Another message.
*Twenty-two minutes.*
Attached was a second photograph.
This one showed Claire inside a car.
Her face was visible through the rear window.
Someone sat beside her.
I zoomed in.
It was my father.
But there was something wrong.
The photograph had been taken at night.
The timestamp read three weeks earlier.
Dad saw it.
His face drained of color.
“That isn't possible.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
He didn't answer.
Mercer took the phone from my hand and examined it.
“Where was this taken?””
“I don't know.””
He zoomed in on the background.
A road sign.
A blurred highway marker.
Then a gas station logo.
Mercer looked at Michael.
“Arizona.””
Michael shook his head.
“They couldn't have moved her that far.””
Mercer handed the phone to Hayes.
“Get a satellite pull on every route leaving San Diego in the last hour.””
Hayes nodded.
“Already working it.””
Ryan looked at me.
“Who else was with her?””
I enlarged the image.
Another reflection appeared in the glass.
A man sitting in front.
I couldn't see his face.
But I recognized the jacket.
Gray.
Navy stripe.
And a silver pin on the collar.
My heartbeat stopped.
“Mercer.””
He looked at me.
“That uniform.””
He stared at the photograph.
Then swore.
“What?””
“That's a federal marshal's jacket.””
Ryan frowned.
“Meaning?””
“Meaning someone with clearance moved her.””
Hayes's radio crackled.
“Commander, we've got traffic footage.””
He raised the radio.
“Go.””
“Black SUV. Two vehicles. Left Coronado forty-one minutes ago.””
“Direction?””
“South initially.””
“Initially?””
“They split.””
“Where?””
A pause.
“One toward Imperial Beach. One toward the freeway.””
Michael looked at Vale.
“Which one?””
Vale smiled.
“I don't know.””
Michael stepped toward him.
“You're lying.””
Vale didn't move.
“I don't need to lie.””
“Where is Claire?””
“Closer than you think.””
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?””
He turned his phone around.
A map appeared.
A red dot pulsed.
My breath caught.
“That's here.””
Vale nodded.
“The second team never left Coronado.””
Hayes immediately turned.
“Lock the base down.””
Security officers began moving.
Ryan looked around.
“You said Claire was being transported.””
“She was.””
“Then why is the location here?””
Vale looked at me.
“Because the person holding her wanted you to think she was somewhere else.””
A terrible realization hit me.
“The photograph.””
Vale nodded.
“Staged.””
My father suddenly whispered, “No.””
We all turned.
Dad was looking at the map.
“No,” he said again.
“What's wrong?”” I asked.
He pointed.
“That building.””
Hayes looked.
“The old training facility?””
Dad nodded.
“It hasn't been used in years.””
Michael stared at him.
“You know it.””
Dad looked at me.
“That's where they took you.””
My body went cold.
“The night I disappeared.””
“Yes.””
I remembered.
A hallway.
White walls.
A steel door.
A child's cry.
I had thought it was a memory from the hospital.
It wasn't.
It had happened there.
I turned toward Hayes.
“Take me there.””
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because that's almost certainly what they want.””
“Then let them.””
Michael shook his head.
“You don't understand what they'll do.””
“I understand my daughter is there.””
Mercer stepped forward.
“She may not be.””
I looked at him.
“You said she was.””
“I said the location was.””
“What's the difference?””
“The difference is someone has been manipulating the signal.””
Ryan stepped between us.
“Then we stop guessing.””
He looked at Hayes.
“We go.””
Hayes studied him.
“You're in the middle of your own ceremony.””
Ryan glanced at the Trident on his chest.
Then removed it.
He held it in his hand.
“My ceremony's over.””
He looked at me.
“My sister isn't.””
I felt tears burn my eyes.
“Ryan.””
He shook his head.
“Don't say anything.””
For the first time that day, he looked like my little brother again.
Only now there was something harder behind his eyes.
Resolve.
Hayes nodded.
“Fine.””
He turned to his team.
“Three vehicles. Medical unit. Nobody goes alone.””
Vale called after him.
“You're making a mistake.””
Hayes didn't stop.
“What?””
Vale looked at me.
“Emily is the key.””
I turned.
“To what?””
He smiled faintly.
“To the room where Claire is being held.””
Michael's expression darkened.
“What room?””
Vale said nothing.
“Thomas.””
“Ask your father.””
Everyone looked at Dad.
His face was gray.
I stepped toward him.
“Dad.””
He shook his head.
“No.””
“You know.””
“No.””
“Tell me.””
His eyes closed.
“I can't.””
“Tell me.””
“I built the room.””
The words settled over us.
Ryan stared at him.
“You built what?””
Dad looked at me.
“The chamber where they stored operational identities.””
I didn't understand.
“It wasn't a room for people,” he said.
“It was a room for records.””
Mercer interrupted.
“No.””
Dad looked at him.
“They changed it.””
“How?””
Dad's voice dropped.
“They started using it for people.””
Michael's fists clenched.
“Who?””
“Witnesses.””
My stomach turned.
“How many?””
Dad looked away.
“Six.””
“Six?””
“Five are dead.””
Silence.
“And Claire?””
Dad nodded once.
“The sixth.””
I couldn't speak.
Hayes stepped closer.
“How do we open it?””
Dad's eyes moved to me.
“Emily can.””
My heart pounded.
“Why?””
“Because you designed the final authorization.””
“I don't remember.””
“You will.””
I felt a headache building behind my eyes.
Dad continued.
“When they erased your memory, they didn't erase the authorization.””
“Where is it?””
“Inside you.””
Michael looked furious.
“What did you do to her?””
Dad shook his head.
“I couldn't remove it.””
“Then how do we retrieve it?””
Dad looked directly at me.
“You need to hear the phrase.””
“What phrase?””
He hesitated.
Then spoke six words.
“Northstar begins where the stars disappear.””
The instant he finished, something inside my mind snapped into place.
A door.
A keypad.
A green light.
A child's hand in mine.
My own voice whispering into darkness.
Don't be afraid, Claire. Mommy knows the way out.
I gasped.
Ryan caught me.
“Emily?””
I looked at him.
“I remember.””
Michael moved closer.
“What?””
“The room.””
“What room?””
I pointed toward the abandoned training facility on the map.
“The room under it.””
Mercer stared at me.
“There's no room under that building.””
I shook my head.
“Yes, there is.””
“How do you know?””
I looked toward my father.
“He forgot something.””
Dad's face tightened.
“What?””
“The room isn't under the building.””
I closed my eyes.
The memory became clearer.
A concrete staircase.
A hidden elevator.
A steel door.
And on that door, a symbol.
I opened my eyes.
“It's underneath the empty chair.””
Everyone went silent.
Hayes frowned.
“What empty chair?””
I looked back toward the ceremony tent.
The fifth chair.
The one nobody had bothered reading.
The white card.
Suddenly, I understood.
The chair hadn't been left empty.
It had been waiting.
I ran toward it.
Michael shouted my name.
I grabbed the card and turned it over.
There was a second message printed on the back.
Three words.
*COME ALONE, EMILY.*
And beneath them was today's date.
My blood ran cold.
Because the signature at the bottom wasn't Vale's.
It wasn't my father's.
May you like
It wasn't Michael's.
It was mine.
