Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE FLAGThey escaped the marina by boat.
Marcus piloted while Owen treated Mason.
Emma sat alone near the bow.
She said nothing for thirty minutes.
Her mother authorized the convoy hit.
Impossible.
Then again, everything Emma had once called impossible had happened before breakfast.
Owen finally approached.
“I don’t believe Hale.”
Emma looked at him.
“He died telling us.”
“Dying doesn’t make people correct.”
“You knew Mom helped fake your death.”
“Yes.”
“You knew she met Hale.”
“Yes.”
“What else do you know?”
Owen sat.
“Our father didn’t just launder money for Voss.”
Emma waited.
“He worked for Naval intelligence.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“He was investigating Voss.”
“You said he worked with him.”
“He did. Undercover.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Could we possibly have one family member who is exactly what they seem?”
Owen almost smiled.
“Grandma was pretty straightforward.”
“She shoplifted lipstick.”
“Fair.”
Emma looked at the water.
“Why would Mom order an attack?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe she was protecting something.”
“Maybe Hale was lying.”
“Maybe.”
Neither believed that explanation completely.
Mason approached slowly.
He should not have been walking.
Emma no longer had energy to argue.
He sat beside her.
“Owen says we need to get somewhere secure.”
Emma stared at him.
“Does such a place exist?”
Mason considered.
“My aunt’s farm.”
Emma looked at him.
“You have an aunt?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say—”
“Exactly.”
She almost smiled.
They reached shore south of Virginia Beach and stole another vehicle.
Marcus objected.
Mason ignored him.
By late morning, they arrived at an isolated farmhouse registered to a shell company Mason controlled.
Emma entered.
There were photographs on one wall.
Mason younger.
Owen.
Their Echo Seven team.
Emma stopped at one image.
Mason and Owen stood beside Eleanor Callahan.
Her mother.
Eight years ago.
Emma turned slowly.
“You knew my mother before Owen died.”
Mason froze.
Owen swore.
Emma looked between them.
“Oh, this is impressive.”
Mason said, “Emma—”
“No.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“You looked me in the face all night and never mentioned this.”
“I met her once.”
“Where?”
“Owen brought her to a secure briefing.”
“Why?”
Owen stepped forward.
“Because Mom worked for the Navy.”
Emma laughed.
Not amusement.
Disbelief.
“My mother was a school counselor.”
“After.”
“After what?”
Owen looked at Mason.
Then at Emma.
“She was a counterintelligence analyst.”
Emma sat.
Her knees had stopped cooperating.
“For how long?”
“Fourteen years.”
“She quit when Dad died?”
“Yes.”
Emma whispered, “Everything was a lie.”
Owen sat opposite.
“Not everything.”
“Name something.”
“She loves you.”
Emma looked away.
“That’s not enough right now.”
The farmhouse phone rang.
Everyone froze.
Mason stared at it.
“No one has that number.”
Owen approached.
“Speaker.”
Mason answered.
Eleanor’s voice came through.
“Emma?”
Emma stood.
“Mom.”
“I need you to listen.”
“Did you order the convoy attack?”
Silence.
Emma closed her eyes.
“That’s a yes.”
“No.”
“Then why did you pause?”
“Because I authorized an extraction.”
Owen leaned forward.
“What?”
Eleanor continued.
“Voss came to me eight years ago. He said Echo Seven had been compromised. He said Daniel Cross was selling intelligence.”
Mason said, “You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You never told us.”
“I couldn’t. Cross had people inside command.”
Owen stared.
“So you ordered extraction.”
“Yes.”
“What went wrong?”
“Voss changed the coordinates.”
Mason’s jaw tightened.
“He led us into the ambush.”
“Yes.”
Emma whispered, “Hale said you authorized the hit.”
“Because my authorization code was attached to the mission.”
“So officially—”
“It looked like I ordered it.”
Owen stood.
“Why didn’t you expose Voss?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Your father’s former handler warned me the evidence had disappeared.”
Emma looked at the phone.
“And you let Owen stay dead.”
“I helped him because Cross came for you.”
Emma froze.
“When?”
“Two days after the memorial.”
“I don’t remember.”
“You were drugged.”
“What?”
Mason’s face changed.
Eleanor continued.
“A man posing as a grief counselor came to the house. He put something in your tea.”
Emma’s hand went to her mouth.
She remembered sleeping nearly eighteen hours.
Her mother had said medication from the doctor.
“Cross wanted to know if Owen sent you anything.”
Owen looked sick.
“I didn’t know that.”
“I made sure you didn’t.”
Emma whispered, “Why are you telling us now?”
“Because Cross has stopped caring about secrecy.”
Mason looked out the window.
“Where are you?”
“A secure location.”
“Whose?”
“My old agency.”
Owen said, “Which agency?”
Eleanor hesitated.
Then someone else spoke.
A male voice.
Older.
“Mason Reed.”
Mason went pale.
Emma looked at him.
“Who is that?”
The man continued.
“Eight years is a long time, Chief.”
Owen’s face drained.
Mason whispered:
“Warren Voss.”
Emma stared.
Voss was supposed to be dead.
Again.
Another dead man alive.
The voice said, “Come to Norfolk Naval Shipyard at six tonight.”
Mason gripped the phone.
“You’re holding Eleanor?”
“No.”
Eleanor said, “I’m here willingly.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Of course you are.”
Voss continued.
“Daniel Cross plans to release part of the archive at midnight.”
“Why?”
“To destroy the people he can no longer control.”
Owen asked, “Including himself?”
“He removed his records.”
Mason said, “What do you want?”
“To stop him.”
“Why should we trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Voss’s voice remained calm.
“But Cross has a second target.”
Emma felt cold.
“Who?”
Voss answered:
“Every surviving family member connected to Echo Seven.”
Owen stood.
“How many?”
“Thirty-six.”
Mason’s face hardened.
“When?”
“Midnight.”
The phone disconnected.
Marcus swore.
Owen looked at Emma.
“This was never just about the archive.”
Mason nodded.
“Cross is cleaning history.”
Emma looked at the clock.
11:42 a.m.
Twelve hours.
Thirty-six families.
Her mother with Warren Voss.
Cross somewhere preparing a massacre.
Emma had started the night as a rookie nurse worried about medication dosages.
Now she looked at three men trained for war.
“What do we do?”
Mason looked at Owen.
Owen looked at Mason.
For the first time in eight years, the two men stood on the same side.
May you like
Mason answered.
“We finish the mission.”
