Chapter 18: The Price of the Truth
The word ACTIVE remained on the monitor for less than a second.
Then the file disappeared.
The technician swore under his breath.
"Someone just terminated the session.""
Agent Collins leaned over his desk.
"Can you recover the access record?""
"I'm trying.""
"Whoever did this knew exactly where we were looking.""
I looked at Elena.
"Project Lantern. What is it?""
She hesitated.
"I heard the name once during my investigation. It was described as an internal personnel-continuity program.""
"That sounds harmless.""
"It wasn't.""
She opened a folder and removed a page of handwritten notes.
"According to an old reference, Project Lantern was designed to preserve operational identities when personnel records were compromised.""
I frowned.
"Meaning?""
"Someone could be removed from official records while their operational identity remained active.""
I looked at the screen.
"Like Sergeant Price.""
Elena nodded.
"His records showed emergency leave, but nobody could verify where he went.""
"And my father?""
"Possibly.""
Agent Collins joined us.
"We need to find out whether the project was ever formally authorized.""
The technician turned around.
"There's something else.""
He displayed a list of recovered access events.
Three different accounts had attempted to open Project Lantern.
One belonged to Deputy Director Warren.
Another was linked to Colonel Hayes.
The third was registered under my personnel identifier.
I stared.
"I never accessed that file.""
"I know," Agent Collins said.
The technician pointed toward the timestamp.
"Someone used your credentials from a government terminal last night.""
"Where?""
He enlarged the location.
A secure facility in Virginia.
I recognized the building.
It was where Major Thomas Bennett had worked before being placed under restriction.
Agent Collins immediately contacted the security office.
No one answered.
She tried again.
A recording stated that the facility was temporarily closed due to a systems maintenance issue.
Elena shook her head.
"That's not a coincidence.""
"No," Collins replied.
"It's an evacuation.""
I looked at her.
"Someone knew we were investigating.""
She nodded.
"And they're removing anything that could connect them to the project.""
My phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
*Daniel Price is alive.*
I read it twice.
Then another message arrived.
*But he won't stay that way unless you stop Collins from opening Project Lantern.*
I showed Agent Collins.
She looked furious.
"That's a threat.""
"Or a warning.""
"Either way, we're not stopping.""
I typed a reply.
*Where is he?*
The answer came immediately.
*Old communications depot. Come alone.*
Agent Collins shook her head.
"No.""
I looked at her.
"Price may be alive.""
"Which is exactly why we don't walk into an ambush.""
Elena examined the message.
"That depot was part of the original shipment route.""
I looked at the photograph from the storage locker.
My father.
Hayes.
Warren.
Michael.
The same network had been operating for years.
"Then we use the message to find him.""
Agent Collins considered it.
"We'll establish surveillance and a controlled perimeter. You will not enter the site without authorization.""
I nodded.
This time, I meant it.
Within an hour, investigators had established a perimeter around the old communications depot.
The building stood behind a disused rail yard, surrounded by weeds and rusted fencing.
A single light burned inside.
We approached from a separate access point.
I remained with Agent Collins and two officers.
Elena stayed near the vehicle, monitoring the communications channel.
"Movement at the north entrance," an officer reported.
A figure emerged.
He was thin, unshaven, and walking with difficulty.
I recognized him immediately.
Sergeant Daniel Price.
"Daniel!""
He turned.
For a moment, he looked as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Then he raised one hand.
"Jessica?""
I moved toward him.
Agent Collins caught my arm.
"Wait.""
Price stopped near the entrance.
His eyes moved across the perimeter.
"Don't come closer," he called.
I stepped forward anyway, stopping several feet away.
"What happened to you?""
He looked exhausted.
"They told me you were dead.""
I stared.
"Who told you?""
"Voss.""
"Where have you been?""
"Moving between facilities. They kept saying I was under protection.""
"Protection from whom?""
Price laughed bitterly.
"From people who wanted me to disappear.""
Agent Collins approached.
"Sergeant Price, you're safe now. We need you to come with us.""
He looked at her.
"Are you sure?""
"Yes.""
He shook his head.
"You don't understand. The people who arranged this have access to every system you use.""
"Who?""
Price looked directly at me.
"Hayes.""
I felt my chest tighten.
"Are you certain?""
"I saw him.""
"When?""
"Three days ago. He came to the facility with Michael Reed.""
I glanced toward Collins.
"Why?""
Price swallowed.
"They wanted the final authorization.""
"For what?""
He looked down.
Then he spoke quietly.
"To transfer me.""
"Transfer you where?""
"Out of the system.""
The words sounded familiar.
Internal personnel recovery.
A personnel extraction hidden inside an equipment shipment.
I understood.
"They were going to move you with the equipment.""
Price nodded.
"I found the shipment discrepancy. I realized the equipment wasn't the real objective. It was the cover.""
"What was the real objective?""
He looked at me.
"People.""
I felt a chill.
"How many?""
"At least four.""
"Who?""
"Me. Captain Brooks. You.""
He paused.
"And someone else.""
"Who?""
Price's face tightened.
"Your father.""
I couldn't speak.
Price continued.
"Your father was never officially listed as deceased in the original system. His identity was marked as recovered.""
I stared at him.
"That's impossible. I saw his death certificate.""
"I saw the record myself.""
Agent Collins stepped closer.
"Sergeant, what exactly did you see?""
Price looked at her.
"Project Lantern has two classifications. One for personnel who are missing. Another for personnel who have been removed from public records but remain active under a protected identity.""
I shook my head.
"Are you saying my father might still be alive?""
Price didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"I don't know. But I saw a personnel photograph attached to his file.""
"When?""
"Last month.""
My heart pounded.
"Where was he?""
"Unknown.""
"Who had access?""
"Hayes. Warren. Michael Reed.""
I looked toward the building.
A second figure appeared in the doorway.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
A familiar scar above the left eyebrow.
Michael.
He stood in the light, watching us.
Then he raised a hand.
Not in greeting.
He was holding a phone.
My phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
*You wanted the truth, Jessica. Ask Daniel what happened to his father.*
I turned toward Price.
"Your father?""
His expression collapsed.
"My father was the man who died in the warehouse fire six years ago.""
Elena's voice crackled through the radio.
"Jessica, get away from the entrance. Now.""
I looked at Michael.
He smiled.
Then the lights inside the depot went out.
A second later, Price grabbed my arm.
"Run!""
Gunfire erupted from somewhere inside the building.
The investigators pulled us behind a concrete barrier.
Agent Collins shouted for everyone to take cover.
I looked toward the doorway.
Michael was gone.
And on the ground beside the entrance lay a single photograph.
It had fallen from his hand.
I could see it from where I crouched.
My father stood beside a younger Daniel Price.
Both were alive.
Both were smiling.
May you like
And on the back, written in my father's handwriting, were the words:
*If Jessica ever finds this, tell her I tried to come home.*
