Chapter 5 - THE MISSION THAT NEVER ENDED
I couldn't speak.
My former team.
Alive.
Five faces I had mourned for years.
David looked at me.
“Now you understand.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“This is impossible.”
Voss's voice came through the speaker.
“Nothing is impossible when governments pay you to forget.”
I looked at David.
“What did you do?”
“I didn't know.”
“You knew enough.”
“I knew my father was dangerous.”
“Not this dangerous.”
He looked down.
“I wanted out.”
Voss interrupted.
“David.”
My husband froze.
“You disappoint me.”
David looked toward the camera.
“I won't do this anymore.”
Voss smiled.
“You married the wrong woman.”
I stepped forward.
“You selected me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you possess the one thing I need.”
“The ledger?”
“No.”
He paused.
“Your memory.”
I stared.
“What?”
“You saw the coordinates.”
I remembered the mission.
The crash.
The fire.
The explosion.
But there was something else.
A room underground.
A metal door.
A map.
A number.
I had forgotten.
Or thought I had.
Then suddenly it returned.
714.
I looked at the monitor.
Cabin 714.
My memory wasn't damaged.
It had been suppressed.
I whispered:
“The ship.”
Voss smiled.
“You finally remember.”
I turned toward David.
“This cruise ship was built around the original facility.”
He nodded.
“Exactly.”
“What's underneath us?”
“An archive.”
“Containing what?”
“Every transaction. Every operation. Every name.”
I looked at the women trapped on the ship.
“They're witnesses.”
“Yes.”
“And you're going to kill them.”
Voss's expression hardened.
“Loose ends.”
I grabbed the radio.
“Then you're going to have one more problem.”
Voss laughed.
“You?”
“No.”
I looked at David.
“Him.”
David understood.
He pulled out his phone.
“I copied the entire passenger manifest.”
I smiled.
“Send it.”
“To whom?”
“Every news outlet you can reach.”
He hesitated.
“That's enough to expose the network.”
“Do it.”
David pressed send.
Voss's face changed.
“You wouldn't.”
David smiled bitterly.
“My father taught me one thing.”
“What?”
“Never leave evidence behind.”
He pressed another button.
“And I learned another.”
“What?”
“Never trust my father.”
The ship's alarms suddenly changed.
External emergency signals began transmitting.
Voss looked furious.
“You think authorities can reach us?”
I smiled.
“Not authorities.”
I pointed toward the radar.
A military aircraft appeared.
Then another.
Then six more.
David stared.
“How?”
I touched the emergency beacon hidden inside my jacket.
“Old habits.”
The first helicopter approached.
Voss looked at me.
“You have no idea what you've started.”
I smiled.
“Actually…”
May you like
I looked at my former team appearing on the monitor.
“I think I do.”
