Chapter 4 - The Man Above the General
The man in the recording was Secretary Nathaniel Cole.
At the time of Operation Night Lantern, Cole had been Deputy Secretary for Strategic Operations.
Now he was one of the most powerful defense officials in Washington.
The video showed Cole ordering Barrett to “contain the convoy.”
Marcus replayed it.
Contain.
A clean bureaucratic word.
Nine soldiers had supposedly died because of it.
Alejandro watched until his anger became almost clinical.
“We take this to federal investigators.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Which ones?”
Alejandro looked at him.
“Cole has spent twenty years building relationships. We choose wrong, Elena dies before sunrise.”
The farmhouse suddenly felt much smaller.
The sniper outside had disappeared.
Which meant he hadn't failed.
He had delivered a message.
We know where you are.
Marcus packed the equipment.
“We move.”
Their destination was an abandoned training facility Alejandro once used with a special operations unit.
On the drive, Elena finally asked the question she had avoided.
“Dad, what happens if Daniel really did marry me because Barrett ordered him to?”
Alejandro didn't soften the answer.
“Then he deceived you.”
“What if he eventually loved me?”
“That doesn't erase what he did.”
She looked out the window.
Alejandro touched her shoulder.
“But it doesn't mean every feeling you had was fake.”
At the facility, Marcus began contacting old allies.
Alejandro studied Daniel's memory card.
There was more than the video.
Account numbers.
Operational names.
Dates.
Then one file named M.V.
Maria Vega.
Alejandro opened it.
A scanned letter appeared.
It was written in Maria's handwriting.
Alejandro,
If you are reading this, Atlas found its way back to our family.
He stopped.
His eyes blurred.
Elena stood beside him.
Together they read.
Maria explained everything.
She had discovered Atlas.
She had hidden evidence.
She had known Alejandro would confront the organization directly if she told him.
So she remained silent.
Her final line broke him.
Protect Elena, but don't teach her that protection means living in fear.
Alejandro sat silently for a long time.
Then Marcus entered.
“We found Daniel.”
Alejandro stood.
“Where?”
“He contacted one of my old channels.”
“Why?”
“He wants to surrender.”
Alejandro checked his weapon.
Elena stepped forward.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
“He's my husband.”
“He's also a trained intelligence operative who lied to you for years.”
“And if he knows where Sofia is, he'll talk to me.”
Alejandro hated that she was right.
The meeting was arranged at an old church.
Daniel entered alone.
Alejandro nearly attacked him the moment he appeared.
Elena stopped her father.
Daniel looked terrible.
Blood on his collar.
Bruising around his throat.
“Elena.”
She stared at him.
“Tell me your real name.”
He closed his eyes.
“Evan Cross.”
She absorbed the blow.
“Did you marry me because of my father?”
“Yes.”
Alejandro's fists tightened.
Daniel continued quickly.
“At first.”
Elena's face crumpled.
“At first?”
“I was supposed to get close to you, find Maria's archive and disappear.”
“But you stayed.”
“I fell in love with you.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“You hit me.”
“No.”
“You threatened me.”
“To keep Barrett from knowing you'd learned anything.”
“That doesn't make it okay.”
“I know.”
For once, Daniel didn't defend himself.
Alejandro stepped closer.
“Where is Sofia?”
“Trying to kill Barrett.”
Marcus frowned.
“Why?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Because Barrett murdered her brother.”
Another secret.
Another layer.
Daniel explained.
Sofia survived Night Lantern because she had been part of the sabotage team.
But after discovering Barrett intended to eliminate everyone involved, she turned against Atlas.
“She isn't loyal to them anymore.”
“She assaulted Elena,” Alejandro said.
Daniel nodded.
“She believed Elena had Maria's archive.”
“Where's the cedar box?”
Daniel's face changed.
“Barrett has it.”
Alejandro cursed.
“But he can't open it.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked toward Elena.
“Maria built the encryption around something only Elena would know.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Suddenly church bells rang.
Daniel looked upward.
His expression changed.
“No.”
Alejandro immediately sensed danger.
“What?”
Daniel reached inside his coat.
Marcus raised his weapon.
Daniel pulled out a phone.
A message had appeared.
One photograph.
The cedar box.
Beside it sat Sofia Reyes.
Bound to a chair.
Under the photograph:
BRING ELENA TO FORT HOLLIS.
MIDNIGHT.
OR CAPTAIN REYES DIES AGAIN.
Daniel looked at Alejandro.
“It's a trap.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Of course it is.”
Elena looked at the photograph.
May you like
Then at her father.
“So let's make sure Barrett thinks we're walking into it.”
