Mercer’s face drained of color.
The officers dragged Ryan away.
He twisted back toward Elena.
“ASK HIM WHO WAS THERE THE NIGHT YOUR MOTHER DIED!”Family history research
Elena stared at Mercer.
The general remained motionless.
Ryan’s voice faded as the MPs took him across the yard.
“ASK HIM!”
Then he was gone.
Elena slowly faced Mercer.
“What is Site Seventeen?”
Mercer looked older now.
Much older.
“A place that officially never existed.”Life insurance
“And unofficially?”
“A secure intelligence facility.”
“Where?”
“Virginia.”
Elena shook her head.
“My mother died in Colorado.”
Mercer looked directly into her eyes.
“No.”
The single word seemed to tilt the world beneath her.
“No?”Military leadership courses
“The crash happened in Colorado.”
He paused.
“But your mother died at Site Seventeen.”
Elena could not speak.
Mercer continued.
“She survived the crash.”
Elena’s throat tightened.
“For how long?”
“Eleven days.”
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
The slap came before Elena realized she had moved.
Her palm struck Mercer across the face.
One of the MPs in the distance turned.
Mercer raised a hand, signaling him away.
Elena’s eyes burned.
“You knew my mother was alive for eleven days?”Family history research
“Yes.”
“And you let me believe she died on that road?”
Mercer’s voice cracked.
“I believed you were dead.”
“That doesn’t explain her.”
“No.”
“So explain it.”
Mercer stared toward the distant mountains.
“She discovered something.”
“What?”Life insurance
“I never knew exactly.”
“Stop lying to me!”
“I’m not.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Then tell me what you do know.”
Mercer hesitated.
“Three days before the crash, your mother contacted me.”
“What did she say?”
“She said people inside our own command were selling intelligence.”
Elena went still.
“To whom?”
“She wouldn’t say over the phone.”
Mercer looked at the classified envelope.
“She told me she had evidence.”
“And?”
“She said if anything happened to her, I should find you.”
Elena looked at him in disbelief.
“You didn’t.”
“I tried.”
“Not hard enough.”
Mercer accepted the words without defending himself.
“The crash site was burned beyond recognition. Two bodies were reported. DNA identification was classified. Every record told me you were dead.”
Elena shook her head.
“But I wasn’t.”
“No.”
“Someone falsified the report.”
“Yes.”