Chapter 6 - The Man She Trusted
Claire refused to believe it.
Not because the photograph looked fake.
Because it didn't.
She knew her mother's face.
She knew the old photographs.
She knew General Harrington.
And she knew the date printed on the back.
October 1999.
Harrington had been a lieutenant colonel then.
Young.
Dark-haired.
Serious.
Standing beside Claire's parents and Victor Sloane at what appeared to be a private meeting.
Claire stared at the image.
“Where did you get this?”
Richard's voice was tired.
“Your mother kept it.”
“You kept it.”
“No.”
“You just gave it to me.”
“Because I don't know who else to trust.”
Claire's eyes sharpened.
“You told me not to trust Harrington.”
“I told you he knows more than you think.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“No.”
Richard lowered his gaze.
“Because I don't know whether he was involved.”
The door opened.
Mercer stepped in.
“Colonel, General Harrington is here.”
Claire looked at him.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“Bring him in.”
Harrington entered seconds later.
He looked at Claire.
Then at Richard.
Then at the photograph.
His face changed.
“You found it.”
Claire felt her heart sink.
“You recognize it.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Harrington closed the door.
“The photograph was taken before you were born.”
“I know.”
“Your mother was working as an accountant.”
Claire frowned.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why would she be meeting a lieutenant colonel and Victor Sloane?”
“She was auditing a transportation contract.”
Claire looked at Richard.
He said nothing.
Harrington continued.
“She discovered discrepancies.”
“The money.”
“Yes.”
“She was investigating Sloane.”
“She was investigating everyone.”
Claire crossed her arms.
“What happened?”
“She found evidence that classified information was being sold.”
The room went silent.
“Sold to whom?”
“We never established that.”
“Did she die because of it?”
Harrington looked at Richard.
Then back at Claire.
“She died because someone wanted the investigation to disappear.”
Claire's voice shook.
“You said you didn't know what happened.”
“I said we never found the killer.”
“And you?”
“I was part of the investigation.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“You were more than that.”
Harrington looked at him.
“Be careful.”
“You were there the night she died.”
Claire turned.
“What?”
Harrington was silent.
Claire stepped closer.
“Were you?”
“Yes.”
Her breath caught.
“What were you doing there?”
“Trying to protect her.”
“Did you fail?”
“Yes.”
The answer devastated her.
Harrington continued.
“She told me she had hidden a copy of the ledger.”
“Where?”
“I never found out.”
Claire remembered Daniel.
“Daniel said she gave it to my mother.”
Harrington looked confused.
“Daniel?”
Claire gestured toward the hallway.
“My brother.”
Harrington's eyes widened.
“He's alive?”
“Yes.”
Harrington closed his eyes.
For a moment, his military composure disappeared.
“Oh, God.”
Claire noticed.
“What?”
“There was supposed to be another child.”
Claire froze.
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother told me she was pregnant.”
Claire felt dizzy.
“Daniel wasn't born yet.”
“No.”
“Then how did Dad have a child older than me?”
Harrington looked at Richard.
Richard lowered his head.
Claire turned toward him.
“Dad?”
Richard whispered:
“Daniel was not your mother's son.”
Silence.
“What?”
“He was my son.”
Claire stared.
“Before Mom?”
Richard nodded.
“Daniel's mother died when he was very young.”
“And Mom raised him?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Richard swallowed.
“Your mother wanted to.”
“But?”
“I wouldn't let her.”
Claire's face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel was connected to people I was trying to escape.”
Harrington interrupted.
“Richard, tell her everything.”
Richard looked at him with hatred.
“You don't get to order me around.”
“Not anymore.”
Claire stared at the two men.
“What are you hiding?”
Richard finally broke.
“Daniel's mother worked for a private intelligence firm.”
Claire frowned.
“What kind?”
“One that handled sensitive government contracts.”
“Sloane?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Richard answered:
“Bennett International.”
Claire's stomach dropped.
Her family name.
“What did they do?”
Richard said nothing.
Harrington did.
“They facilitated information transfers.”
“Espionage?”
“Potentially.”
Claire looked at her father.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“You were involved.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom?”
“She discovered what I was doing.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“You betrayed her.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
There it was.
The confession Claire had not expected.
Harrington stepped closer.
“But Richard wasn't the only one.”
Claire looked at him.
“Who else?”
Harrington hesitated.
Then:
“Victor Sloane.”
Claire thought about the gala.
The envelope.
The payments.
The threat.
She understood the shape of it.
Sloane hadn't suddenly become dangerous.
He had been dangerous for decades.
And her father had spent decades trying to keep her away from that history.
Her secure phone vibrated.
An incoming message from an unknown source.
One image.
Claire opened it.
It showed Ethan.
Standing outside his apartment.
Beside a black sedan.
The time stamp was five minutes old.
A message appeared underneath.
YOUR BROTHER IS NEXT.
Claire stood so quickly her chair fell backward.
“Where is Ethan?”
No one answered.
She ran into the hallway.
His room was empty.
His phone was lying on the floor.
And on the wall, written in black marker, were four words.
ASK CLAIRE ABOUT SENTINEL DAWN.
Claire stared at them.
Her blood went cold.
Someone had known her classified operation.
Someone had reached her brother.
And someone wanted her to believe that everything happening now had begun fifteen years ago.
But Claire suddenly remembered something.
A detail from Sentinel Dawn she had never told anyone.
A name.
A face.
A civilian informant who had warned her about a corrupt logistics network.
May you like
She whispered the name.
“Daniel.”
