PART 8
Colonel Hayes studied my father carefully now.
Then he spoke with terrifying calm.
“Captain Carter’s final operation remains classified,” he said. “So I’m curious how your daughter formed such strong opinions about it.”
No one answered.
My mother looked pale.
Ryan looked confused.
And Chloe…
Chloe looked afraid.
Actually afraid.
The baby kicked sharply inside my stomach.
Hard enough to hurt.
I pressed a hand against my belly automatically while my heartbeat began rising for reasons that suddenly had nothing to do with the house anymore.
Hayes noticed.
So did the soldiers behind him.
Then my father said something that changed everything.
“You should leave,” he told the colonel quietly.
Not angry.
Not defensive.
Terrified.
And that was the moment I knew.
There was something about Daniel’s death they had never told me.
Hayes slowly closed the folder in his hands.
“No,” he said evenly. “I think perhaps Mrs. Carter deserves to hear the rest.”
My mother whispered, “Please…”
But nobody was listening to her anymore.
The colonel reached inside his coat and removed a second sealed envelope.
Smaller.
Older.
Military red stamp across the front.
Then he handed it directly to me.
“Captain Carter instructed us to deliver this only if certain conditions were met after his death.”
I stared at the envelope.
My hands suddenly felt numb again.
May you like
On the front, written in Daniel’s handwriting, were seven words that nearly stopped my heart.
If they force you out… open this immediately.
