CHAPTER 7 THE FATHER WHO CAME BACK
My father’s voice stayed in my head long after the call ended.
Don’t trust your mother.
And worse:
Do not let Ethan open that archive.
I stared at my husband.
He stared back.
“What did he say?”
I looked at Evelyn.
Then at General Hale.
Then back at Ethan.
“He said not to trust my mother.”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
“That sounds like Nathan.”
“And he said not to let Ethan open the archive.”
Ethan went completely still.
Patricia whispered:
“Why would your father care about Ethan?”
I didn’t answer her.
I was wondering the same thing.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Grace, I don’t know what’s on that archive.”
“Apparently my father thinks you do.”
“I don’t.”
“You signed Falcon Ridge.”
“I told you why.”
“You met Vanessa in Charlotte.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my father before you knew me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew my mother before him.”
“Yes.”
His expression broke.
“I know how this looks.”
I laughed once.
“Do you?”
I stepped toward him.
“Because every fifteen minutes I discover another piece of my marriage that you forgot to mention.”
“That’s fair.”
“No. Fair would have been knowing who I married.”
He flinched.
Before he could answer, my phone buzzed.
A location.
No message.
Just coordinates.
General Hale took one look.
“Old freight yard south of Fayetteville.”
Evelyn stood.
“Nathan used that place.”
Hale looked at her sharply.
“When?”
“Before Lantern collapsed.”
I grabbed my coat.
Ethan followed.
“No.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“My father specifically warned me about you.”
“And?”
“And you’re staying here.”
His eyes hardened.
“You think I’m involved.”
“I think I don’t know what to think.”
“Grace.”
“Stay.”
He stared at me for several seconds.
Then nodded.
That almost hurt more than if he argued.
“I’ll stay.”
Evelyn looked at me.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
Her face changed.
“Nathan asked for you?”
“No.”
“Then why not?”
“Because he told me not to trust you.”
She smiled bitterly.
“Wonderful.”
General Hale said:
“I go with Grace.”
My mother crossed her arms.
“He trusts you even less.”
Hale looked at her.
“Then he can tell me himself.”
Forty minutes later, Hale and I stood outside an abandoned rail warehouse.
No lights.
No vehicles.
Nothing.
I whispered:
“This feels wrong.”
Hale nodded.
“It is.”
A light appeared inside.
Then a man stepped into view.
Gray hair.
Lean frame.
Dark jacket.
Older.
But unmistakable.
My father.
Nathan Cross.
Alive.
I stopped breathing.
He looked at me.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then he said:
“You got taller.”
I almost laughed.
Instead, I walked straight toward him and punched him in the chest.
Hard.
He stumbled.
Then I hit him again.
“You let me bury you.”
He didn’t defend himself.
“You let me mourn you.”
“I know.”
“You let me think I had no parents left.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that!”
My voice cracked.
He looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw tears in his eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
I hated those words.
Because they were too small.
General Hale remained several feet away.
Nathan looked at him.
“Marcus.”
Hale’s jaw tightened.
“Nathan.”
“You aged badly.”
“So did you.”
For half a second, they looked like old friends.
Then the tension returned.
I stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Nathan looked at me.
“You brought him.”
“Yes.”
“I told you not to trust Evelyn.”
“You didn’t say anything about Hale.”
“I assumed you knew better.”
Hale muttered:
“Still charming.”
I ignored him.
“Where’s Vanessa?”
Nathan’s expression changed.
“She got here before you.”
My pulse jumped.
“And?”
“She took the archive.”
“What?”
“She didn’t come alone.”
“Who?”
Nathan looked at me.
“Robert.”
I froze.
“Robert was shot.”
“Superficially.”
I stared.
“You’re saying that was staged?”
“Yes.”
General Hale swore under his breath.
Nathan continued.
“The ballroom blackout was planned.”
“By Robert?”
“And Vanessa.”
“Why?”
“To get everyone looking the wrong direction.”
I felt sick.
“And Patricia?”
“Collateral.”
“Ethan?”
Nathan’s eyes hardened.
“Asset.”
I stepped closer.
“Explain.”
Nathan looked at me for a long moment.
“Your husband was never supposed to marry you.”
That didn’t help.
“What was he supposed to do?”
“Watch you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Apparently everyone did.”
Nathan continued.
“Evelyn recruited him first.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You know what she told you.”
“What’s the difference?”
“The difference is she didn’t recruit him to investigate me.”
Silence.
“She recruited him to identify you.”
I stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“It will.”
Nathan looked toward Hale.
“Lantern discovered a leak in federal procurement. But underneath the money trail was something else.”
“What?”
“Personnel placement.”
General Hale frowned.
Nathan continued.
“Officers were being moved into specific commands. Civilian analysts into specific offices. Family members into proximity with targets.”
I felt cold.
“And Ethan?”
“Was one of those placements.”
“No.”
“He didn’t know.”
That mattered.
Barely.
“But he was selected.”
“By who?”
Nathan looked at me.
“Your mother.”
I stepped back.
“No.”
“She chose him because he was clean.”
“Clean?”
“No disciplinary history. No debt. No addiction. Ambitious, but not corrupt.”
Nathan’s mouth tightened.
“She thought she could use that.”
“And me?”
“She thought you needed someone near you.”
“Why?”
“Because you were already being watched.”
I stared.
“By Robert?”
“Robert. Vanessa. Others.”
General Hale asked:
“Who else?”
Nathan looked at him.
“That’s what the archive proves.”
I folded my arms.
“So the music box contains the whole network.”
“Names, payments, placements, dead drops.”
“And why can’t Ethan open it?”
Nathan’s expression changed.
“Because the archive recognizes him.”
I stared.
“What?”
“He is the key.”
General Hale went still.
Nathan continued.
“Evelyn built the encryption around his biometric credential years ago.”
I felt rage rise.
“She used my husband as a password?”
“Yes.”
“And he didn’t know?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if he knew, he could betray it.”
I laughed.
“God forbid anyone in this family know anything.”
Nathan looked almost ashamed.
“Grace—”
“No.”
I pointed at him.
“You don’t get to say my name like you’re still my father.”
That hurt him.
Good.
Then a sound echoed behind us.
Metal door.
Vanessa stepped onto the platform above.
Snake bracelet gleaming.
Robert stood beside her.
Alive.
Uninjured enough to walk.
I stared.
“You.”
Robert smiled.
“Sorry about the drama.”
Nathan raised his weapon.
Robert did the same.
Vanessa held the music box.
My wedding gift.
My mother’s secret.
My marriage turned into a lock.
Robert called down:
“Grace.”
I looked up.
“You want answers?”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Bring Ethan.”
Nathan shouted:
“No.”
Robert ignored him.
“The archive opens once.”
He lifted the music box.
“And if your husband isn’t here in thirty minutes…”
Vanessa smiled.
“We burn it.”
They disappeared.
I looked at Nathan.
Then at Hale.
Then at the empty platform.
And for the first time in my life, the mission and the marriage became the same thing.
I called Ethan.
He answered immediately.
“Grace?”
I closed my eyes.
“I need you.”
Silence.
May you like
Then:
“Where?”
