Chapter 4: The Photograph That Should Never Have Existed
“EMILY! DON'T LET THEM SHOW YOU THE REST OF IT!””
Ryan's voice came through the locked door again.
I turned toward it, but Commander Hayes stepped between me and the exit.
“Stay here,” he ordered.
“That's my brother.””
“And someone has just compromised a restricted security system. Until we understand what's happening, nobody moves without an escort.””
I looked at Thomas Vance.
He was still staring at the dead terminal.
“What did you mean when you said you never told me everything about that night?””
He didn't answer.
“Thomas.””
His jaw tightened.
“Not until we secure the room.””
“That's what you said twelve years ago.””
The words struck him harder than a shout.
He looked down at the cane in his hand.
Before he could respond, Hayes opened the door.
Ryan stood in the corridor between two security personnel. His white uniform was immaculate, but his face was flushed, and his breathing was uneven.
He immediately looked past Hayes toward me.
“Emily, you need to listen to me.””
“I'm listening.””
“Don't trust that photograph.””
“Why?””
His eyes flicked toward Vance.
“Because it's been altered.””
Vance straightened.
“Careful, Candidate.””
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“You don't get to tell me to be careful. You disappeared for twelve years, and now you show up here expecting everyone to believe whatever you say.””
“Ryan,” I said, “look at me.””
He did.
For a moment, the anger disappeared, and I saw the frightened boy who used to come to my room after nightmares.
“Tell me how you know about the photograph.””
He swallowed.
“I've seen it before.””
“Where?””
“In a file.””
“What file?””
He glanced at the security officers.
“I can't say it here.””
Hayes folded his arms.
“Candidate Carter, you can either answer the questions being asked or wait until an authorized investigator arrives.””
Ryan looked at me again.
“Please. I need to speak to my sister alone.””
“No,” I said.
His expression crumpled.
“Emily—”
“You had years to speak to me. You could have called. You could have asked about my work. You could have told me what was bothering you instead of treating me like an embarrassment in front of our family.””
He flinched.
“I know.””
“Then start telling the truth.””
Ryan glanced at the photograph on the table.
“I was twenty-one when I saw it the first time. Dad had a box of old papers in his study. I was looking for my birth certificate, and I found a folder with your name on it.””
My stomach tightened.
“My name?””
“Your full name. Your date of birth. A photograph of you in uniform.””
“I never gave Dad a photograph of myself in uniform.””
“I know that now.””
“Who gave it to him?””
Ryan shook his head.
“I don't know. But there was a handwritten note inside the folder. It said that if you ever came home, someone should notify a man named Daniel Cross.””
The room went silent.
Thomas Vance gripped his cane.
Commander Hayes looked at him sharply.
“Do you know that name?””
Vance's expression had gone cold.
“Unfortunately.””
I felt a familiar pressure building behind my eyes.
Daniel Cross had been our team leader.
Twelve years earlier, he had led the operation that ended with Vance bleeding in my arms and three other people disappearing from the official record.
Cross had been declared missing in action two days after Vance's death.
His body had never been recovered.
I had spent years believing that I had failed both men.
“What else was in the folder?”” I asked.
Ryan hesitated.
“A list of dates. Some addresses. And a photograph of you standing beside Admiral Vance.””
“Was that the photograph you saw today?””
“No. That one was different.””
“How?””
Ryan's voice dropped.
“In the old photograph, you were holding a little girl.””
My hands went cold.
Vance closed his eyes.
I looked at him.
“What little girl?””
He didn't respond.
Ryan answered for him.
“His daughter.””
For a moment, I couldn't hear anything except the steady hum of the ventilation system.
Vance's daughter, Sophie, had been six years old when her father supposedly died.
I had met her only twice. The first time, she had hidden behind her father's leg and refused to speak to me. The second time, she had handed me a paper crane and asked whether I could teach her how to make another.
I had promised I would return.
I had never seen her again.
“Why would I be holding Sophie?”” I whispered.
Vance's voice was barely audible.
“Because you were the person I trusted most to protect her.””
I stared at him.
“You told me you had no family near the operation.””
“I couldn't tell you the truth.””
“Was Sophie there?””
“No.””
“Then why would I be holding her?””
He looked toward Ryan.
“Because that photograph wasn't taken during the operation.””
My heart hammered.
“When was it taken?””
“Twelve years ago. Three days before I was officially declared dead.””
The room seemed to shrink.
I remembered those final days with terrible clarity: the equipment checks, the hurried briefings, the rain against the windows of a temporary operations building.
But I had never seen Sophie during that period.
“Who took it?”” I asked.
“Daniel Cross.””
Ryan stepped forward.
“That's not all.””
Hayes raised a hand.
“Stay where you are.””
Ryan ignored him.
“The folder had another page. A handwritten statement. It said that if anything happened to Thomas Vance, Emily Carter would be responsible for locating his daughter.””
I looked at Vance.
“You left her with me?””
“Not physically.””
“Then what does that mean?””
He drew a long breath.
“Sophie disappeared six months after my death.””
The words landed like a physical blow.
I gripped the edge of the table.
“What?””
“Her guardian reported her missing. The investigation was closed after several weeks. The official conclusion was that she had been taken overseas by someone connected to the network we were investigating.””
“Why didn't anyone tell me?””
“Because the people responsible believed you had already been compromised.””
I laughed once, without humor.
“So you let me believe you were dead, let me believe I had failed to save you, and then allowed me to live twelve years without knowing your daughter was missing?””
His face tightened.
“I was trying to keep you alive.””
“You don't get to call that protection.””
“No,” he whispered.
“I don't.””
Ryan looked between us.
“I didn't know any of this until three weeks ago.””
I turned toward him.
“What happened three weeks ago?””
He reached inside his dress jacket and removed a folded sheet of paper.
“I received this in the mail.””
He handed it to me.
The paper contained a single typed sentence.
*YOUR SISTER KNOWS WHY YOUR FAMILY WAS CHOSEN. ASK HER BEFORE THEY SILENCE YOU BOTH.*
Beneath the message was a small silver compass.
The same compass rose that appeared on the collar pin in the security photograph.
I looked at Ryan.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
He lowered his head.
“Because I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
“Of finding out that everything Dad had said about you was a lie.””
I stared at him.
Then I looked at our father, who had appeared silently in the doorway behind the security officers.
Richard Carter's face was pale.
He wasn't looking at Ryan.
He was looking at the paper in my hand.
And when his eyes met mine, I saw something I had never seen in my father before.
Recognition.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“Dad,” I said slowly, “where have you seen this symbol?””
He took a step backward.
“I have no idea what you're talking about.””
Thomas Vance rose from his chair.
“Richard. Sit down.””
My father straightened, anger replacing his fear.
“You don't give me orders in front of my children.””
Vance's voice turned ice-cold.
“Then answer your daughter's question.””
Dad looked at the compass.
Then at Ryan.
Finally, he turned toward me.
“I never wanted you involved in any of this, Emily.””
The room went completely still.
I felt my pulse pounding in my ears.
“You knew?””
He swallowed.
“I knew someone was asking questions about you.””
“When?””
His lips parted.
But before he could answer, a security officer rushed into the room carrying a second tablet.
“Commander Hayes, we've identified the person who entered the administrative building.””
Hayes took the tablet.
His expression changed as he read the report.
“Who is it?”” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Your father's security consultant.””
My father went white.
Then the officer added the words that changed everything.
“Sir, the suspect has been detained. He was carrying identification belonging to a man named Daniel Cross.””
May you like
Thomas Vance dropped his cane.
And for the first time since he had returned from the dead, he looked terrified.
