Chapter 10 - THE ADMIRAL’S BETRAYAL
Celeste did not move.
Reed stood inside the broken doorway.
His pistol remained aimed at her chest.
Arthur watched him with quiet satisfaction.
Vivian stared from the floor.
Marcus leaned against a guard, blood running from his leg.
Isabelle trembled between two armed men.
The cabin smelled of smoke and gunpowder.
Celeste looked into Reed’s eyes.
They were cold.
Too cold.
“Thomas,” she said.
His weapon did not lower.
Arthur smiled.
“You see?”
“No one reaches my age without learning where loyalty ends.”
Celeste ignored him.
She kept her attention on Reed.
“Where are Emma and Julian?”
“Safe.”
Reed’s answer was flat.
“Where?”
“Outside.”
Arthur walked toward the table.
He opened the first ledger.
“Thomas and I reached an understanding.”
Vivian looked at Reed with disgust.
“You gave him Celeste?”
Reed did not answer.
Arthur continued.
“Every person has a point of pressure.”
“Vivian had Isabelle.”
“Julian had my approval.”
“Marcus had freedom.”
“And Thomas has Michael.”
Celeste remembered the entry in the third book.
NEUTRALIZE THROUGH SON.
“What did you do to Michael?” she asked.
Arthur turned a page.
“Nothing irreversible.”
Reed’s jaw tightened.
Celeste saw it.
The smallest movement.
A message.
Not betrayal.
Restraint.
Arthur believed he controlled Reed.
Reed wanted him to keep believing it.
Celeste adjusted her breathing.
“What does he want from you?”
Reed answered.
“The ledgers.”
“He already has them.”
“He wants the copies.”
Celeste looked toward Arthur.
“There are no copies.”
Arthur smiled.
“Margaret never trusted a single archive.”
“She always duplicated evidence.”
“You know where she hid the second set.”
“No.”
“You knew where the first set was.”
“My mother left a clue.”
“And she left another.”
Arthur closed the book.
“Where is the second archive?”
Celeste laughed softly.
“You threatened his son before asking him to interrogate me?”
“I did not ask Thomas to interrogate you.”
Arthur looked toward Reed.
“I asked him to prove his loyalty.”
Celeste’s eyes stayed on Reed.
“What does that mean?”
Arthur answered for him.
“He kills you.”
Vivian made a broken sound.
Isabelle began shaking harder.
Marcus watched with interest.
Reed’s pistol remained steady.
Arthur stepped beside Celeste.
“Your death solves several problems.”
“The unstable daughter dies after uncovering fabricated evidence.”
“The disgraced admiral kills her during a personal dispute.”
“Then Thomas confesses that grief over discovering he was your father clouded his judgment.”
Celeste looked at him.
“You planned that quickly.”
“I planned it before your birth.”
The cruelty of the answer seemed to satisfy him.
Arthur had always wanted control over every possible ending.
Celeste looked toward the guards.
Six inside.
More outside.
Julian and Emma might be prisoners.
Pike’s true allegiance remained with Arthur.
Vivian was wounded.
Isabelle could barely stand.
Marcus was injured but still dangerous.
Reed was the only armed ally.
If he was still an ally.
Celeste looked at him again.
“Did you know?”
“About what?”
“That I was your daughter.”
“No.”
The answer carried real pain.
Arthur rolled his eyes.
“Touching.”
Reed’s weapon shifted one fraction lower.
Celeste noticed.
Arthur did not.
“What happened to Margaret?” Celeste asked.
Arthur looked toward the ledgers.
“She became unreasonable.”
“You tortured her.”
“We treated her.”
“You erased her memory.”
“We softened the parts that caused distress.”
“Where is she?”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“Still searching for her?”
“Yes.”
“After everything she hid from you?”
“She hid me from you.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“She gave you to me.”
“She chose my name.”
“She lived in my house.”
“She took your money because Henry threatened Reed.”
“She married you to keep me alive.”
Arthur’s face hardened.
“You sound exactly like her.”
“Good.”
Arthur struck Celeste.
Her head turned with the force.
Reed’s weapon rose.
Arthur looked at him.
“Careful.”
Reed regained control.
Celeste tasted blood.
She smiled.
Arthur disliked that.
“You still need me,” she said.
“For what?”
“The second archive.”
“You said you don’t know where it is.”
“I lied.”
The room went still.
Arthur stared at her.
Celeste continued.
“My mother left another clue.”
“Where?”
“Not until Emma is released.”
Arthur laughed.
“You are not negotiating.”
“Then kill me.”
She looked toward Reed.
“Let him do it.”
Arthur studied her.
Celeste held his gaze.
“If I die, the second archive stays hidden.”
“You think I believe you?”
“No.”
“I think you believe Margaret.”
That struck him.
Arthur’s obsession with Margaret had never ended.
He had imprisoned her.
Drugged her.
Erased pieces of her.
Yet he still feared what she had planned.
He still feared that she had outsmarted him.
“Give me proof,” Arthur said.
Celeste looked toward Isabelle.
“She recognized Commander Vale.”
Arthur glanced at her.
“So?”
“She was at W-17.”
“She heard things.”
“She may know where Margaret is.”
Arthur’s expression remained controlled.
But one of the guards looked toward Isabelle.
Celeste saw it.
That man knew more.
She turned to him.
“You transferred Margaret.”
The guard said nothing.
Arthur looked at him.
“Do not engage.”
Celeste continued.
“She was moved recently.”
“Three months ago.”
The guard’s eyes flickered.
Enough.
Arthur noticed.
“Take Isabelle outside.”
Vivian struggled to stand.
“No.”
A guard pushed her down.
Isabelle began resisting.
“Don’t let them take me.”
Celeste looked at Reed.
Now.
His pistol swung away from Celeste.
He fired twice.
Two guards fell.
Celeste dropped.
Reed shot the third guard near Isabelle.
Vivian grabbed the pistol from the floor.
She fired at the man holding her daughter.
The bullet struck his shoulder.
Isabelle pulled free.
Marcus tackled another guard despite his injured leg.
Arthur reached for the ledger.
Celeste drove into him.
They crashed across the table.
Pages tore loose.
Reed exchanged fire with the men outside.
Julian’s voice sounded from beyond the cabin.
“Emma, stay down!”
He was alive.
Celeste struck Arthur.
He caught her wrist.
“You think this changes anything?”
She drove her forehead into his face.
“It changes this.”
Blood poured from Arthur’s nose.
He shoved her backward.
Pike entered through the broken doorway.
His weapon aimed toward Celeste.
Julian appeared behind him.
“Pike!”
Pike turned.
Julian fired.
The bullet struck Pike in the back.
The security officer fell.
Julian stared at what he had done.
Pike looked over his shoulder.
There was no anger in his face.
Only relief.
“Good,” he whispered.
Then he collapsed.
Arthur reached for his pistol.
Emma appeared outside the window.
She saw him.
She shouted.
“Aunt Celeste!”
Celeste turned.
Arthur grabbed her from behind.
He pressed the pistol beneath her jaw.
Everyone froze.
Reed aimed at him.
Arthur dragged Celeste toward the rear door.
“Drop your weapons.”
No one moved.
Arthur pressed harder.
“Thomas.”
Reed lowered his pistol.
Vivian did the same.
Julian placed his weapon on the floor.
Marcus remained behind the table.
Arthur looked toward him.
“You too.”
Marcus laughed.
“You still think I take orders.”
Arthur aimed at him while holding Celeste.
Marcus fired first.
The bullet struck Arthur’s side.
Arthur fired back.
Marcus fell against the wall.
Celeste twisted free.
Arthur stumbled through the rear door.
He carried one ledger beneath his arm.
Celeste chased him.
The path descended toward the dock.
Arthur reached a second boat hidden behind the cabin.
He started the engine.
Celeste jumped onto the dock.
“Arthur!”
He looked back.
His face was covered in blood.
“You want your mother?”
Celeste stopped.
Arthur held up a small remote.
“She is at W-17.”
Celeste’s breathing changed.
Arthur smiled.
“The facility is wired.”
“If I release this switch, every archive and every patient disappears.”
Celeste looked at his hand.
Dead-man trigger.
“Where is W-17?”
“You already know.”
“The naval station.”
“Close.”
The boat pulled away from the dock.
Celeste raised her pistol.
Arthur held the remote higher.
“Shoot me.”
“See what happens.”
Reed reached the shore behind her.
“Celeste, don’t.”
Arthur disappeared into the fog.
Celeste lowered the weapon.
Behind them, Marcus coughed.
He was still alive.
They returned to the cabin.
Vivian held Isabelle.
The woman’s eyes remained distant.
Julian knelt beside Emma.
Reed checked Marcus’s wound.
Celeste approached him.
“Where is W-17?”
Marcus laughed weakly.
“Arthur finally told you about the trigger.”
“Where?”
“You cannot enter from the road.”
“Then how?”
Marcus looked toward Isabelle.
“She knows.”
Vivian touched her daughter’s face.
“Isabelle?”
The woman stared ahead.
Celeste crouched in front of her.
“You called me Commander Vale.”
Isabelle’s eyes slowly focused.
“You came to the facility.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“I’ve never been there.”
“Yes, you have.”
Celeste looked toward Reed.
Isabelle continued.
“They brought you after Kandar.”
“You were unconscious.”
“You were bleeding.”
Celeste remembered the military hospital.
Four months of missing time.
She had believed sedation and surgery explained the gaps.
Perhaps not.
“What did they do to me?”
Isabelle’s lips trembled.
“They tried to make you forget Marcus.”
Celeste looked toward him.
Marcus smiled bitterly.
“You remembered enough to hate me.”
Isabelle clutched Vivian’s sleeve.
“Margaret stopped them.”
Celeste’s heartbeat changed.
“My mother was there?”
“She helped you escape.”
“Where is she now?”
Isabelle raised one shaking hand.
She pointed toward the lake.
“Under the radio tower.”
Reed looked at Celeste.
The abandoned naval station stood beyond the northern ridge.
Its white communications tower had been visible from the road.
Facility W-17 was beneath it.
Celeste turned toward the second ledger.
Vivian held the book open.
A page near the back displayed facility access codes.
One code was circled.
The same number as the hotel room.
The same number engraved on the key.
Celeste removed the brass key from her pocket.
Isabelle saw it.
Her face filled with terror.
“No.”
Celeste looked at her.
“What?”
“That key doesn’t open the facility.”
“What does it open?”
Isabelle began crying.
“The chamber where Arthur keeps Margaret.”
A phone rang beneath the broken table.
Everyone froze.
Celeste found it.
Pike’s phone.
The screen showed a live video feed.
A gray-haired woman sat restrained inside a white room.
Her face was thin.
Her eyes were closed.
Celeste recognized her immediately.
Margaret.
Alive.
A digital timer glowed on the wall behind her.
00:29:58.
The countdown began.
Then Arthur’s voice came through the phone.
May you like
“Bring me the remaining ledgers.”
“Or watch your mother disappear for the second time.”
