Chapter 3 - The Woman Behind the Desk.
Lisa drove toward Sentinel Meridian with Major Cole beside her.
Two government vehicles followed.
Ryan and Evelyn had been ordered to remain at the house until investigators decided whether formal detention was necessary.
Ryan had tried calling Lisa nine times before she blocked his number.
She felt nothing when she did it.
That frightened her more than anger would have.
Cole watched traffic through the windshield.
“You founded Sentinel Meridian twelve years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Government contracts?”
“Some.”
“What kind?”
“Cybersecurity architecture, identity protection, threat intelligence.”
Cole glanced at her.
“And classified systems?”
Lisa paused.
“Limited access.”
“That answer means yes.”
“It means my contracts have confidentiality restrictions.”
Cole accepted that.
“Did your brother have anything to do with the company?”
“No.”
Michael disappeared three years before Lisa founded it.
At least, that was what she had always believed.
They reached the corporate campus at 5:26 a.m.
Security vehicles surrounded the building.
Lisa’s chief security officer hurried toward her.
“Lisa.”
“What happened?”
“Your credentials were used at 4:18.”
Lisa stopped.
“My credentials?”
“Administrative override.”
“That’s impossible.”
Her security officer looked embarrassed.
“Someone had a perfect clone.”
Lisa thought immediately of Ryan.
He had spent years complaining that she treated him like a guest inside her company.
Two months earlier, he had suddenly stopped complaining.
Now she understood why.
They entered the lobby.
Nothing looked disturbed.
That made it worse.
Cole motioned toward the elevators.
“Where is your office?”
“Twenty-second floor.”
When the doors opened upstairs, Lisa smelled coffee.
Fresh coffee.
Someone was still there.
Cole drew his weapon.
Investigators moved ahead.
Lisa followed despite his attempt to stop her.
Her office door stood open.
A man was sitting on the floor beside her desk.
For a second, Lisa could not move.
Michael looked older.
His hair was threaded with gray.
A scar ran along the right side of his neck.
But it was him.
Her brother.
He lifted his head.
“Lis?”
The nickname shattered something inside her.
Lisa crossed the room before Cole could stop her.
She dropped beside Michael.
“You’re alive.”
Michael touched her face as if he could not believe she was real.
“I tried to come back.”
“For nine years?”
“I couldn’t.”
Lisa’s relief twisted into anger.
“You couldn’t call?”
“They would have found you.”
“Who?”
Michael looked toward the doorway.
“Rebecca.”
Cole stepped closer.
“Major Voss?”
Michael’s face drained.
“You know that name?”
“She was here.”
Michael nodded.
“She brought me here.”
“Why?”
Michael looked at Lisa.
“Because she needed something only you could unlock.”
Lisa slowly stood.
Her office safe appeared untouched.
Her workstation was locked.
Nothing obvious had been taken.
“What did she want?”
Michael pointed toward the wall behind Lisa’s desk.
“Your company seal.”
Lisa stared at him.
“That’s decorative.”
“No.”
Michael struggled to his feet.
“It’s a biometric housing.”
Lisa felt a chill.
She had inherited the brass seal from her father after his death.
She had mounted it in every office she had occupied.
She had never opened it.
Michael reached behind the frame.
His fingers found a hidden latch.
The circular seal swung outward.
Inside was a narrow compartment.
Empty.
Michael closed his eyes.
“We’re too late.”
Cole moved toward him.
“What was inside?”
Michael looked at Lisa.
“A hardware key.”
“For what?”
Michael’s voice dropped.
“For Gray Lantern.”
Lisa shook her head.
“I’ve never heard of Gray Lantern.”
“That was intentional.”
Michael took a breath.
“Dad built the first version.”
Lisa stared at him.
“Our father was an accountant.”
Michael gave a bitter smile.
“That’s what we were told.”
Cole spoke.
“What was he really?”
Michael looked toward the sunrise beginning to lighten the windows.
“Army intelligence.”
Lisa stepped backward.
“No.”
“He designed an identity-continuity system during the early years of digital military banking.”
“For dead soldiers?”
“It wasn’t supposed to steal from them.”
Michael looked directly at her.
“It was supposed to protect undercover operatives by creating financial identities that could survive after their official deaths.”
Lisa suddenly understood.
Gray Lantern had not started as a criminal scheme.
It had started as a secret military program.
Someone had hijacked it.
“Rebecca?”
Michael nodded.
“And Evelyn.”
Lisa’s stomach turned.
“My mother-in-law?”
“She was part of the original team.”
Cole asked the next question.
“And Ryan?”
Michael looked at Lisa with something resembling pity.
“He was recruited much later.”
Lisa’s hands went cold.
“When?”
May you like
Michael answered quietly.
“Before he ever met you.”
