Chapter 7 - The Price of Being FamilyMy father looked terrified.
Professionally, it made sense.
Personally involved officers can make dangerous decisions.
I knew that.
I had enforced that rule myself.
Captain Reeves stood outside the command center with his arms folded.
“You’re a potential target.”
“And Daniels is missing because Mercer wants something I know.”
“Which makes you useful as a consultant. Not as bait.”
“I didn’t say bait.”
“You were thinking it.”
He knew me too well for a man I had met twice.
Patel joined us.
“We traced one prepaid phone.”
“Where?”
“Point Loma.”
I looked at the map.
Mercer was moving between locations connected to Lantern Reef’s old support network.
Someone had done extensive research.
Too extensive.
“You need to find out who helped him.”
“We are.”
“No trainee pulls seven-year-old compartmented support records by accident.”
Patel nodded.
“We agree.”
Ryan sat in an adjoining room under supervision.
His status had changed.
He was no longer merely a witness.
But he wasn’t being treated as Mercer’s partner either.
Not yet.
He had provided passwords.
Names.
Dates.
Everything investigators requested.
When I entered, he looked at me.
“Did they find Luke?”
“No.”
“He was nice to me during training.”
“I know.”
Ryan lowered his head.
“I did this.”
“Mercer did this.”
“I helped him.”
“Yes.”
He looked up, surprised.
I sat opposite him.
“You need to learn something our family is terrible at.”
“What?”
“Two things can be true.”
He waited.
“You can have made terrible decisions, and Mercer can still be responsible for his own crimes. Accepting your part doesn’t mean taking responsibility for his.”
Ryan rubbed his hands together.
“Is that what you did with Lantern Reef?”
The question hit hard.
“What do you mean?”
“You said eleven came back.”
I nodded.
“How many didn’t?”
“Four.”
“And you blame yourself.”
I looked through the glass.
“Sometimes.”
“Were they your fault?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
I almost smiled.
“Apparently you do listen occasionally.”
He didn’t laugh.
My phone vibrated.
A video.
Unknown sender.
I called Patel before opening it.
She entered immediately.
We played the file on a secure device.
Master Chief Daniels appeared tied to a metal chair.
His face was bruised.
But he was alive.
Behind him was a concrete wall.
Mercer stayed off-camera.
His voice said:
“Commander Carter. You once found a route everyone else missed. Let’s see if you can do it twice.”
The camera moved toward Daniels.
He looked directly into it.
“Don’t give him anything, ma’am.”
A hand struck him.
Ryan flinched.
Mercer continued.
“Lantern Reef transferred something before the extraction. I want the receiving coordinates.”
I frowned.
Receiving coordinates?
He misunderstood the operation.
The money transfer was digital, not physical.
Then I realized.
He wasn’t after money.
He thought “transfer” meant an object.
Why?
I replayed the video.
“Again.”
Patel did.
Mercer repeated the phrase.
Receiving coordinates.
I stood.
“He has incomplete records.”
“That’s good.”
“No.”
I pointed at the screen.
“He thinks we moved an asset.”
“What kind?”
“A person.”
The room became silent.
During Lantern Reef, one human source had disappeared from all records following the rescue.
Only six people knew what had happened.
I was one.
The source was alive.
Relocated.
Protected.
If Mercer had uncovered enough fragments, he might believe that source possessed intelligence worth selling.
Patel asked, “Does the source still matter?”
“Not operationally.”
“Then why kidnap Daniels?”
“Because Mercer doesn’t know that.”
The video ended with coordinates.
Not Daniels’ location.
A meeting point.
Tomorrow.
5:00 a.m.
Mercer wanted me there alone.
Of course.
Captain Reeves refused immediately.
Patel was less absolute.
“We can build around it.”
Reeves stared at her.
“You are not suggesting sending a commander into a hostage exchange.”
“I’m suggesting Mercer believes he controls the situation. That gives us an opportunity.”
I looked at the coordinates.
An abandoned coastal maintenance site.
Open approaches.
Limited cover.
Terrible place for Mercer if professionals prepared first.
Which meant he probably wouldn’t actually be there.
“It’s a test,” I said.
Patel nodded.
“We know.”
“He’ll watch from somewhere else.”
“Probably.”
“He wants to see whether I obey instructions.”
“Yes.”
Ryan suddenly spoke.
“He won’t watch the meeting point.”
We all turned.
“How do you know?” I asked.
Ryan stood.
“Cole hated obvious observation points during training. He used to talk about how everybody looks uphill or toward buildings.”
“Then where?”
“He liked water.”
I looked at the map again.
The meeting point bordered a narrow inlet.
Across the water was an old service pier.
Patel leaned closer.
Ryan pointed.
“There.”
Teams were deployed before midnight.
I remained in the command center.
That was the compromise.
No heroics.
No wandering around with a pistol pretending life was a movie.
Real operations are slower.
More boring.
More frightening.
At 4:58 a.m., feeds came alive.
Thermal cameras.
Overwatch.
Maritime units.
Nothing.
5:00.
5:03.
5:07.
Then movement near the service pier.
One figure.
Team closed.
The suspect ran.
He reached a small boat.
Marine unit intercepted.
I held my breath.
Then Patel’s radio crackled.
“Subject detained.”
Ryan covered his face.
“Cole?”
Patel listened.
Then shook her head.
“No.”
The detained man was a homeless civilian Mercer had paid five hundred dollars to stand near the pier holding a prepaid phone.
A distraction.
At the same moment, a call arrived from security at my parents’ hotel.
Their room was empty.
My mother and father were gone.
A laptop sat open on the bed.
On the screen was a live video.
Mercer finally showed his face.
Behind him sat Master Chief Daniels.
And beside Daniels—
my parents.
My mother was crying.
Dad had blood on his shirt.
Mercer smiled into the camera.
“You brought the Navy.”
I felt the room tilt.
“So now,” he said, “we do this my way.”
May you like
Then he held up a gun.
“Tell me where Lantern Reef ends.”
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