“It changed.”
His voice lowered.
“Every few years, new name. New base. Same idea. Find psychological breaking points. Measure loyalty under unethical pressure. Find out who obeys.”
“That isn’t training.”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
Knox looked directly at her.
“Selection for something else.”
A branch snapped behind them.
Knox reacted immediately.
Someone stepped from the darkness.
Mercer.
A pistol hung lowered at his side.
Mara’s heart struck once hard against her chest.
Mercer seemed disappointed rather than surprised.
“I told you to stay away from him.”
Knox moved in front of Mara.
Mercer smiled.
“That’s interesting.”
“Let her leave,” Knox said.
“Can’t.”
“She has nothing to do with this.”
Mercer shifted his gaze to Mara.
“She made herself part of this eleven years ago.”
Mara became still.
“What?”
Mercer smiled faintly.
“You really believed nobody knew Daniel had a sister?”
Knox turned sharply.
“You knew who she was?”
“From the first day.”
Mara felt anger rise.
“You deliberately let me into the course.”
Mercer nodded.
“Vale wanted to know what you knew.”
“Where is Ellis?”
Mercer ignored the question.
Knox stepped forward.
“Grant.”
Mercer slightly raised the pistol.
“Don’t.”
Knox stopped.
Mercer looked almost regretful.
“You were always the emotional one, Owen.”
“You promised nobody would be harmed.”
“I said the program had safeguards.”
“Same lie you used at Harbor.”
Mercer’s expression darkened.
Mara asked:
“What happened to Daniel?”
Mercer looked at her.
Something unexpected crossed his face.
Pain.
Real pain.
“Your brother made a choice.”
“What choice?”
“He chose twelve men instead of himself.”
Mara swallowed.
“What does that mean?”
Mercer glanced toward the buried facility.
“He discovered what Vale was doing. He copied records. He intended to take them outside the chain of command.”
May you like
“That still doesn’t explain his death.”
“No.”
Mercer’s jaw tightened.
“The night Daniel died, Vale ordered a containment drill.”
Knox whispered:
“Don’t.”
Mercer ignored him.
“The building was sealed. A fire was intentionally started in one section. Daniel had access to the emergency override.”
Mara struggled to breathe evenly.
“But opening it would also expose the room containing the evidence server.”
She frowned.
Mercer’s voice broke slightly.
“He opened the candidate wing first.”
“Twelve men got out,” Knox added.
Mara looked from one to the other.
“And Daniel?”
Mercer stared at her.
“He went back for the evidence.”
Heat burned behind Mara’s eyes.
“Did he die in the fire?”
Neither man answered.
The silence was worse than any answer.
“Did he?”
A third voice came from behind Mercer.
“No.”
Mara turned.
An older man emerged from the darkness.
White hair.
Tall frame.
Back still straight despite his age.
General Adrian Vale.
He smiled at Mara as though they were being introduced socially.
“Your brother survived.”
Chapter 5: PHOTOGRAPHS OF A DEAD MAN
For a moment, Mara forgot where she was.
Forgot the weapon in Mercer’s hand.
Forgot Knox beside her.
“What did you say?”
Vale approached.
Rain dotted the shoulders of his expensive civilian jacket.
“Daniel survived the Harbor fire.”
Mara stared at him.
“My brother is alive?”
Vale gave a small smile.
“I didn’t say that.”
Hope vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.
“Where is he?”
“Come inside.”
Knox immediately stepped forward.
“No.”
Vale barely acknowledged him.
“Owen, after everything I did for you, you still mistake loyalty for morality.”
“Stay away from her.”
Vale sighed.
“To think you once had such potential.”
Two armed security men emerged from the tree line.
Mara calculated distance.
Angles.
Timing.
Bad.
Knox caught her eye and gave the smallest shake of his head.
Not now.
They were taken underground.
The corridor was clinical.
White walls.
Harsh lighting.
Security doors.
Cameras everywhere.
Mara passed observation rooms.