Chapter 8 - FRIEND OR ENEMY
Ethan raised his weapon.
Marcus did the same.
For three seconds, neither man moved.
“You heard him,” Ethan said.
“I heard him.”
“Put the gun down.”
“Not while somebody’s shooting at us.”
“Marcus.”
“Ethan.”
Another shot punched through the wall.
Marcus grabbed Ethan and dragged him behind a pillar.
“Does that feel like I’m trying to kill you?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
“Fair.”
Outside, tires screamed.
Ethan’s radio crackled.
Grace.
“Dad, there’s someone coming!”
Ethan ran.
Marcus followed.
A masked shooter sprinted from behind the church toward the tree line.
Grace had ducked behind the SUV.
The shooter turned and fired.
Ethan pulled Grace down.
Marcus fired twice.
The shooter disappeared behind the trees.
“Vehicle moving east!” Marcus shouted into his radio.
Security units closed in from surrounding roads.
Ethan looked at Grace.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”
“You sure?”
“Yes!”
He turned toward Marcus.
“Explain.”
Marcus lowered his weapon.
“I can’t.”
“That’s a bad answer.”
“Because I don’t know why Vance said my name.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Were you working for Mercer?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
“No.”
“Did Laura suspect you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Think carefully.”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“Two days before she died, she asked me for access logs.”
“What logs?”
“Your headquarters.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I forgot about it until now.”
Ethan stared at him.
“That’s convenient.”
“I know.”
Grace stepped between them.
“Dad.”
“Stay out of this.”
“No.”
“Grace.”
“You’ve trusted him my entire life.”
“That’s exactly why this matters.”
Marcus nodded.
“He’s right.”
Ethan looked toward the church.
Vance was dead.
A dead man’s accusation.
A living friend’s denial.
And a flash drive between them.
Claire arrived twenty minutes later.
They moved to a secure mobile command unit.
Dana inserted the drive into an isolated computer.
Encrypted folders appeared.
One was labeled REED.
Ethan looked at Marcus.
Marcus said nothing.
Dana opened it.
Inside were hundreds of photographs.
Marcus.
Entering hotels.
Meeting officials.
Accepting envelopes.
Grace whispered, “Oh my God.”
Marcus stared.
“That’s not what it looks like.”
Ethan laughed once.
“You better hope not.”
Dana opened a financial file.
Payments to Marcus.
Millions of dollars.
Over eleven years.
Marcus shook his head.
“I never received that money.”
Claire examined the account numbers.
“These are real.”
“Not mine.”
“Your Social Security number is attached.”
“Then it was created in my name.”
Ethan looked at him.
“By who?”
Marcus turned toward him.
“Someone trying to make you distrust me.”
Grace suddenly pointed at the screen.
“Wait.”
A photograph showed Marcus meeting Raymond Mercer at a hotel.
Grace zoomed in.
The date was visible.
She frowned.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“This says June 3, 2019.”
“So?”
Grace looked at Marcus.
“Where were you in June 2019?”
Marcus answered instantly.
“Afghanistan.”
Ethan remembered.
Marcus had nearly died there.
He had been hospitalized for months after an embassy attack.
The photo was fake.
Dana checked metadata.
“Artificial composite.”
Claire exhaled.
“Somebody built an entire case against Marcus.”
Ethan lowered his weapon.
Marcus stared at him.
“You owe me a drink.”
“I almost shot you.”
“Two drinks.”
Dana clicked another folder.
A list of names appeared.
At the top:
PROJECT KEYSTONE — ACTIVE ASSETS.
Police.
Judges.
CEOs.
Journalists.
Members of Congress.
Claire went pale.
“This could bring down half the city.”
Grace scrolled.
Then stopped.
“Dad.”
Her voice changed.
Ethan looked.
Near the bottom was a name.
ETHAN COLE.
Status:
ACTIVE ASSET.
Ethan stared at it.
“No.”
Marcus read the line beneath.
CONTROL METHOD: LAURA COLE / DEATH FILE.
Grace looked at her father.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan had no answer.
Then another line appeared.
CURRENT LEVERAGE:
GRACE COLE.
May you like
And beneath it:
ACTIVATION AUTHORIZED.
