Chapter 6: The Daughter Who Found Her Voice
Chapter 6: The Daughter Who Found Her Voice
The next morning, Lily woke up crying.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
The kind of crying children do when they don't want anyone to notice.
I sat beside her.
"Baby?"
She wiped her face.
"Is Vanessa coming back?"
"No."
"Is Daddy coming back?"
The question hurt.
I took a breath.
"Your dad is going to answer for what he did."
She looked confused.
"Is he bad?"
I didn't want to poison her heart.
So I answered carefully.
"Sometimes adults make choices that hurt people they should protect."
Lily looked down.
"Did I do something wrong?"
My heart shattered.
I pulled her into my arms.
"No."
"Never."
"You were never the problem."
She started crying harder.
All the fear she had been holding finally came out.
"I tried to be good."
"I know."
"I cleaned like she said."
"I know."
"I didn't talk because she said Daddy hated hearing me."
My blood ran cold.
I closed my eyes for one second.
Only one.
Because if I let my anger control me, I would lose focus.
And Lily needed her mother.
Not an agent.
Not an investigator.
A mother.
"You can talk now."
She looked at me.
"Really?"
"Really."
She whispered.
"My hand hurt."
I held her fingers gently.
"I know."
"Vanessa said nobody would believe me."
I looked into my daughter's eyes.
"Mommy believes you."
Her lip trembled.
"Forever?"
I smiled through the tears.
"Forever."
Later that afternoon, I sat across from investigators.
They asked questions.
They reviewed evidence.
They prepared the case.
But one question stayed in my mind.
Who leaked my mission?
Grant had betrayed me.
Vanessa had helped him.
But someone else knew.
Someone powerful enough to access classified information.
Someone who wanted me gone.
Agent Sloan placed a file in front of me.
"Evelyn."
I looked up.
"We found the source."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
She opened the folder.
A photograph slid onto the table.
I froze.
Because the person staring back at me was someone I trusted.
Someone who had hugged me before I left.
Someone who had told me:
"Come home safe."
My own brother.
Alexander Hart.
And beneath his photograph was one sentence:
PRIMARY SUSPECT IN CLASSIFIED INFORMATION LEAK.
I stared at the page.
Unable to speak.
May you like
Because the betrayal wasn't over.
It had only reached the next level.
