Chapter 6 - THE LIE MERCER CARRIEDMercer did not answer in front of everyone.
That alone frightened Maya.
He told Major Hall to secure the phone, ordered additional guards around the barracks, then asked Maya to follow him to headquarters.
She refused.
“No closed room.”
“Maya—”
“Outside.”
Mercer glanced at the soldiers nearby.
“Fine.”
They walked to the empty parade field.
Floodlights had returned after technicians restored power.
Mercer stopped beside the flagpole.
“You deserve the complete answer.”
“Yes.”
“I was not your mother’s primary contact.”
“Who was?”
“Major William Rourke.”
Maya did not recognize the name.
“He led the task-force liaison element,” Mercer continued. “Your mother gave information through him.”
“And?”
“Two days before the attack, Leila contacted me privately.”
“Why?”
“She believed Rourke was compromised.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“By Voss?”
“She didn’t know.”
“What did you do?”
“I reported the allegation.”
“To whom?”
“Rourke.”
Maya stared at him.
“You told the man she suspected.”
“I followed the chain of command.”
“That sounds incredibly stupid.”
“It was.”
The immediate admission stopped her.
Mercer looked older than he had that morning.
“I was thirty-two. I believed procedure protected us.”
“What happened?”
“Rourke denied everything. Twelve hours later, your mother vanished from our communication network.”
“And then the building was attacked.”
“Yes.”
“You caused it.”
Mercer did not defend himself.
“My decision may have exposed her suspicion.”
Maya took a step backward.
“May have?”
“We never proved Rourke gave anyone information.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“How?”
“Vehicle explosion six months later.”
“Convenient.”
“Yes.”
Maya looked toward the barracks.
The anger came strangely calm.
“You spent seven years feeling guilty.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why you recognized me.”
“Your scars made me recognize you. The guilt never left.”
“Did my mother know what you did?”
“I told her.”
“When?”
“Hours before the attack.”
Maya turned sharply.
“You saw her?”
“On the phone.”
“What did she say?”
Mercer swallowed.
“She called me an idiot.”
“That sounds right.”
“Then she said something else.”
“What?”
“‘At least you told me the truth.’”
Maya looked away.
Mercer continued.
“She gave me instructions. If anything happened, I was supposed to find Orchid.”
“You thought Orchid was data.”
“Yes.”
“So you failed that too.”
“Yes.”
The fact that he would not defend himself made it harder to stay furious.
Maya wanted excuses.
Excuses were easier to hate.
“Why should I trust you now?”
“You shouldn’t because your mother told you to.”
Mercer’s answer surprised her.
“You should judge what I do now.”
Maya crossed her arms.
“And what are you doing?”
“Finding Miller. Identifying the insider. Protecting your right to finish training. And helping you open that database only if you decide to.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then you don’t.”
“That simple?”
“Yes.”
“What about evidence?”
“That matters.”
“What about justice?”
“That matters too.”
“Then why let me refuse?”
“Because your mother did not turn you into property when she made you part of that key.”
His voice hardened.
“And neither will we.”
Maya stared at him for several seconds.
Then Sergeant Cole appeared at the edge of the field.
He looked furious.
“At least tell me before half the installation starts treating me like a traitor.”
Maya raised Miller’s note.
“He wrote your name.”
“I know.”
“What does it mean?”
Cole approached.
“Three weeks ago, Miller came to me asking about you.”
Maya frowned.
“What did he ask?”
“Why you had a medical exemption involving your arm.”
“You told him?”
“No.”
“What did you tell him?”
“To mind his own business.”
Mercer watched him closely.
“Anything else?”
Cole hesitated.
Maya noticed.
“Say it.”
“He claimed somebody had told him Brooks had combat scars.”
Mercer’s face changed.
“Combat?”
“That exact word.”
Maya shook her head.
“I was twelve.”
“I know.”
“Who told him?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
“Why didn't you report it?”
“I did.”
“To who?”
Cole’s jaw tightened.
“Captain Price.”
Maya understood.
“And Price buried it.”
“Apparently.”
“Anything else?”
Cole exhaled.
“Yes.”
“Miller asked whether I recognized the scars.”
“Before seeing them?”
“Yes.”
“How could you recognize something you hadn’t seen?”
“He showed me a photograph.”
Everyone froze.
“What photograph?” Mercer asked.
Cole pulled out his phone.
“I thought it was fake.”
He found an old message.
The image showed a close-up of a young girl’s injured shoulder in a hospital.
Maya nearly dropped the phone.
“That’s me.”
“I know that now.”
“Where did Miller get it?”
“He said anonymous message.”
Mercer examined the image.
“This was taken at the field hospital.”
Maya’s face hardened.
“Who had access?”
“Medical personnel. Investigators. Relief workers.”
“Voss?”
“Possibly.”
Cole pointed to the corner.
A reflection appeared in a metal cabinet.
Someone taking the picture.
Mercer enlarged it.
The reflection was distorted.
But one thing was visible.
An Army uniform.
Maya whispered, “So somebody in the Army photographed me.”
Mercer nodded.
“And may have been feeding information out from the beginning.”
They sent the image to forensic specialists.
Facial reconstruction was impossible.
But the uniform carried a small shoulder patch.
Task Force Phoenix.
Mercer’s former unit.
There had been forty-three members.
Twenty-seven were still alive.
Nine had been in the hospital on the day the photograph was taken.
One name made Mercer sit down.
Sergeant First Class Adam Vale.
His former communications specialist.
And one of the men who had helped carry Maya from the building.
“Where is Vale now?” Maya asked.
Mercer stared at the screen.
“Redstone.”
She felt cold.
“What?”
“He retired last year.”
“Then why is he here?”
Mercer stood.
“He works as a civilian range supervisor.”
Security teams were dispatched.
Vale’s office was empty.
His home on base was empty.
His truck remained parked outside.
Inside the office they found a hidden phone.
Encrypted communications.
Payments from shell companies tied to Sentinel Meridian.
And one current live location.
A warehouse seventeen miles away.
Miller.
The rescue operation took less than an hour to organize.
Maya was ordered to remain at Redstone.
She argued.
Lost.
Mercer, Hall, and military police left.
At 11:18 p.m., they breached the warehouse.
Miller was found handcuffed to a pipe.
Alive.
Two kidnappers surrendered.
Adam Vale was not there.
But he had left a message.
A printed photograph sat on a desk.
It showed Mercer carrying twelve-year-old Maya through smoke.
On the back, Vale had written:
YOU WERE ALWAYS TOO SENTIMENTAL, DANIEL.
Below it:
ORCHID OPENS FRIDAY. WITH OR WITHOUT HER.
Friday was two days away.
When Mercer returned, Miller asked to speak with Maya.
This time, nobody stopped her.
He sat in the medical clinic with bruises across his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“You already wrote that.”
“I need to say it.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought you were weak.”
Maya stared at him.
Miller swallowed.
“I picked on you because everybody liked seeing somebody smaller get pushed around as long as it wasn’t them.”
“That’s a terrible explanation.”
“I know.”
“And five thousand dollars helped.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit it.”
Miller looked down.
“I saw Vale talking to Price four weeks ago. Then Vale contacted me using the anonymous account. I realized after the kidnapping.”
“Why Cole’s name?”
“Cole knew about the hospital picture. I thought if I got one message out, he could connect it.”
“You could have written Vale.”
Miller grimaced.
“I was concussed.”
Maya almost smiled.
Almost.
“What happens to you now?”
“Probably discharge.”
“You scared?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Miller looked up.
She continued.
“Maybe next time you're afraid, remember what it feels like before you decide somebody smaller deserves it.”
He nodded.
Maya walked away.
At the door, Miller said, “Brooks.”
She stopped.
“I didn’t know what those scars meant.”
She looked back.
“They don’t mean anything.”
Miller frowned.
Maya touched her shoulder.
“They’re something that happened to me.”
Then she left.
Outside, Mercer was waiting.
“You ready?”
“For what?”
“Virginia.”
Maya stared.
“The archive?”
“Yes.”
“Friday?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Because Vale thinks he knows when we're going.”
May you like
A small smile appeared on Mercer’s face.
“So I thought we might disappoint him.”
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