“How did you gain access to this program?”
Elias laughed.
“You still think I applied?”
Vale stopped.
Elias pointed toward the observation booth.
A figure appeared behind the glass.
An older woman.
Short gray hair.
Thin frame.
Mara’s heart stopped.
Impossible.
The woman opened the door.
Mara stumbled backward.
“No.”
Elizabeth Vance entered the gym.
Mara’s mother.
Dead for three years.
Buried beside a coffin that had already been empty.
Alive.
“Mara.”
The voice was unchanged.
Mara struggled to breathe.
Knox whispered:
“What the hell?”
Mara stared at her mother.
“You died.”
Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
“You had cancer.”
“I did.”
“I watched you—”
“I know.”
“I buried you!”
The last words tore out of Mara.
Elizabeth flinched.
Mara started toward her.
Then stopped.
Every emotion seemed to collide inside her at once.
Joy.
Fury.
Love.
Betrayal.
Grief returning only to reveal another lie.
“You let me bury you.”
Elizabeth whispered:
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because they were getting close.”
“Who?”
Elizabeth turned her gaze toward Vale.
“The person actually running all of this.”
Vale’s expression hardened.
“I run this program.”
Elizabeth slowly shook her head.
“No, Adrian.”
Her eyes moved toward Mercer.
“You never did.”
Mara followed her gaze.
Mercer froze.
Knox raised the pistol.
Mercer slowly lifted both hands.
Vale frowned.
“Grant?”
Mercer laughed softly.
And suddenly something in him changed.
The shame vanished.
The regret disappeared.
He stood straighter.
Mara understood before anyone explained.
Mercer looked at Elizabeth.
May you like
“You should have remained dead.”
Vale stepped backward.
“No.”
Mercer smiled.
“For a supposedly brilliant man, General, you have always needed somebody to point out where the enemy is standing.”
Knox aimed directly at him.
“Hands up.”
Mercer gave another small laugh.
“They are.”
Mara stared at the man who had spent years pretending to work for Vale.
“You created the blackmail operation.”
“Not originally.”
“Your father?”
His smile widened.
“Better.”
Elizabeth answered for him.
“His mother.”
Mara looked at her.
Elizabeth continued.
“Dr. Helen Mercer. Behavioral scientist. She created the original vulnerability profiles.”
Mercer nodded.
“My mother understood something none of you were willing to accept.”
Mara asked:
“What?”
“That every human being can be controlled.”
His gaze traveled around the room.
“Patriots. Generals. spouses. children. Heroes.”
Then he looked at Mara.
“Especially heroes.”
Her stomach tightened.
“Daniel discovered the truth.”
“Yes.”
“You killed him.”
Mercer’s smile disappeared.
“No.”
Vale stared at him.
“But you said—”
“I told you whatever you needed to believe.”
Mara stepped forward.
“Then who killed Daniel?”
Mercer looked toward Elias.
The young man’s face became hard.
Mara followed the look.
Her heart seemed to break before the words came.
Elias whispered:
“My father isn’t dead.”
Silence.
Even Elizabeth looked surprised.
Mara shook her head.
“No more.”
Elias continued.
“He’s why I came here.”
“Where is he?”
Elias pointed upward.
Not toward the ceiling itself.
Toward the observation booth.
A second door opened.
A man appeared.
Tall.
Gray in his beard.