CHAPTER 5 THE MAN AT THE CEMETERY
At 11:42 p.m., Amelia Hayes stood beneath the flickering lights of the motel parking lot.
Rain fell steadily.
Cold drops struck the hood of the black sedan and slid down the windshield in silver lines.
Richard Mason stood beside her.
"You can still walk away," he said.
Amelia looked at him.
"Walk away from what?"
"All of it."
She almost smiled.
"My father died three days ago."
"I know."
"My mother has been missing for twenty-nine years."
"I know."
"Someone murdered a man named Alexander Vale."
Richard looked away.
"Maybe."
"And someone just threatened to take me to an abandoned military base."
"I know."
Amelia opened the driver's door.
"So what exactly am I supposed to walk away from?"
Richard sighed.
"You're starting to sound like Thomas."
"Good."
She got inside.
Richard climbed into the passenger seat.
The engine started.
Neither spoke.
The motel disappeared behind them as they pulled onto the highway.
For several minutes, there was only rain.
Then Richard said quietly:
"There's something I didn't tell you."
Amelia kept her eyes on the road.
"What?"
"Your father wasn't the only one who believed Project Seventeen was still active."
"Who else?"
"Daniel."
Her hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"You've spoken to him?"
"No."
"But you know he's alive."
"Now I do."
"You said he disappeared."
"He did."
"Then how do you know he survived?"
Richard hesitated.
"Because someone has been leaving messages for me."
Amelia glanced at him.
"When?"
"Every few years."
"What did they say?"
"Nothing useful."
"Richard."
He sighed.
"Just one phrase."
"What phrase?"
"Keep her alive."
Amelia's chest tightened.
"Me?"
Richard nodded.
"I never knew who sent them."
"But you suspected."
"Daniel."
"Why?"
"Because only Daniel and Thomas knew certain details."
Amelia stared at the road.
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long have you known someone was watching me?"
Richard didn't answer.
"How long?"
"Since you were eighteen."
Amelia's eyes widened.
"You've been watching me since I was eighteen?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Richard looked at her.
"Daniel."
The car became silent.
Amelia whispered:
"He watched me?"
"From a distance."
"Why?"
"Because he promised your father."
"What promise?"
"That no one would ever reach you."
Amelia's eyes burned.
"And my father knew?"
"Yes."
She laughed bitterly.
"Everyone knew."
"Not everyone."
"Enough."
She accelerated.
Fort Belmont appeared on the horizon shortly after midnight.
The abandoned installation sat behind a rusted chain-link fence.
The sign at the entrance was barely visible beneath years of weather.
FORT BELMONT
PROPERTY RESTRICTED
The road beyond the gate was dark.
No lights.
No guards.
No vehicles.
Nothing.
Richard stared through the windshield.
"Something's wrong."
Amelia stopped the car.
"Nothing?"
"Exactly."
She looked at him.
"You expected someone?"
"I expected surveillance."
"Maybe they're hiding."
"That's worse."
Amelia reached for her weapon.
Richard grabbed her wrist.
"Wait."
"What?"
"Listen."
They both became still.
Rain.
Wind.
Then—
A distant metallic sound.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Two knocks.
Pause.
One.
Richard's face changed.
"What?"
He whispered:
"Thomas used that."
"For what?"
"A recognition signal."
Amelia looked toward the darkness.
"From where?"
Richard pointed.
"The cemetery."
She frowned.
"There's a cemetery here?"
"Behind the old chapel."
They moved through the rain.
The abandoned base felt strangely preserved.
Buildings stood intact.
Windows were broken.
Weeds pushed through concrete.
A faded American flag hung from a pole near the chapel.
Amelia stopped.
She stared at it.
"My father loved flags."
Richard nodded.
"He did."
They entered the cemetery.
Rows of old graves disappeared into the darkness.
Amelia's flashlight moved across the stones.
Then stopped.
DANIEL CROSS
She froze.
The grave was old.
The stone was simple.
DANIEL CROSS
1970–1997
Amelia stared.
"He's buried here."
Richard stepped beside her.
"No."
She looked at him.
"What?"
Richard pointed toward the ground.
The soil was disturbed.
Recently.
Amelia crouched.
Her fingers touched the wet earth.
"Someone opened it."
Richard nodded.
"Recently."
She stood.
"Then there's no body."
"Probably not."
Amelia looked at the gravestone.
"Why fake a grave?"
"Because a dead man can't be searched for."
She looked at him.
"And a living man can."
A voice came from behind them.
"Exactly."
Amelia spun.
Her weapon came up instantly.
A man stood between the trees.
Older.
Tall.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
Rain dripping from his shoulders.
He didn't move.
Richard raised his weapon.
"Don't."
The man's eyes moved to Amelia.
He stared at her for several seconds.
Then his expression changed.
Something like grief.
Something like relief.
He whispered:
"You're taller than I imagined."
Amelia's breath caught.
"Who are you?"
The man looked at Richard.
"You brought her."
Richard lowered his weapon slightly.
"Daniel?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Amelia.
"Your father told me you'd ask that first."
Amelia's heart pounded.
"Are you Daniel Cross?"
The man slowly reached beneath his coat.
Amelia tightened her grip.
He pulled out an old photograph.
He held it toward her.
Amelia didn't move.
"Look."
She stepped forward.
The photograph showed three people.
Thomas.
Sarah.
Daniel.
The same photograph from her father's study.
But this version was different.
There was a fourth person standing behind them.
A young man.
Amelia stared.
"Who is that?"
Daniel looked at her.
"You."
She frowned.
"I'm not in that photograph."
"You were."
"When?"
"Before you were born."
Amelia looked at Richard.
He seemed as shocked as she was.
Daniel continued.
"Your father kept the version you found."
"Why?"
"Because he wanted you to believe there were only three people in that room."
Amelia looked back at the photograph.
Daniel turned it over.
There was handwriting on the back.
SEPTEMBER 17, 1997
FOUR PEOPLE ENTERED.
ONLY THREE WERE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE.
Amelia's face went pale.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel looked at her.
"It means someone died that night."
"Alexander Vale?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Was it him?"
"Yes."
Richard stepped forward.
"Daniel, we need to talk."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"Not here."
"Where?"
"Somewhere they can't hear us."
Amelia looked around.
"Who?"
Daniel looked toward the trees.
"They're already here."
A sharp crack echoed through the cemetery.
A bullet struck the stone beside Amelia's head.
Daniel grabbed her and pulled her down.
"DOWN!"
Another shot.
Richard rolled behind a gravestone.
"Snipers!"
Daniel pulled Amelia toward a stone wall.
"How many?"
"At least three."
Daniel glanced toward the tree line.
"Five."
Amelia stared at him.
"How do you know?"
"I trained them."
Another shot.
The cemetery exploded into chaos.
Daniel moved with terrifying precision.
He didn't fire wildly.
One shot.
Pause.
Another.
Silence.
A figure fell behind the trees.
Amelia stared.
"You just—"
"Move!"
He grabbed her arm.
They ran.
Richard followed.
They reached the chapel.
Daniel kicked open a side door.
Inside was darkness.
He slammed it shut.
"There's a basement."
Richard looked at him.
"How do you know?"
Daniel gave him a cold stare.
"I built it."
Amelia froze.
"You built this?"
"Twenty-nine years ago."
"Why?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Because your father knew they would come."
They descended into the basement.
Daniel closed a steel door.
The gunfire above continued.
Then stopped.
Silence.
Amelia stood in the dim light.
She stared at the man who had haunted her father's letters.
The man her father had warned her never to find.
The man who had supposedly died before she was born.
Daniel Cross.
Alive.
Older.
And looking at her as though he'd spent his entire life waiting for this moment.
Amelia finally asked:
"Why did my father tell me not to find you?"
Daniel looked down.
"Because he was afraid of what you'd learn."
"About my mother?"
"About you."
Amelia's voice tightened.
"Who is Alexander Vale?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"He was my real name."
The room went silent.
Amelia stared.
"What?"
Richard stepped backward.
"No."
Daniel nodded.
"Daniel Cross was an identity."
He looked directly at Amelia.
"Alexander Vale was the man I was born as."
Amelia's face drained of color.
"You were Alexander Vale?"
"Yes."
"Then you're my father."
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
That silence was answer enough.
Amelia shook her head.
"No."
"Amelia—"
"No."
She backed away.
"My father was Thomas."
"He was."
"Then you aren't my father."
Daniel's eyes filled with pain.
"Biologically..."
He stopped.
Amelia whispered:
"Say it."
Daniel looked at her.
"Yes."
Richard closed his eyes.
Amelia felt the floor disappear beneath her.
Twenty-nine years.
Twenty-nine years of believing Thomas Hayes was her father.
Now the man standing in front of her was telling her that the name on her original birth certificate had never been a coincidence.
Alexander Vale.
Daniel Cross.
One man.
Her biological father.
The man who was supposed to have died on the day she was born.
Amelia's voice trembled.
"Why didn't you come back?"
Daniel looked at her.
"I tried."
"When?"
"Every year."
"Then why didn't I see you?"
"Because your father wouldn't let me."
Amelia's eyes widened.
"My father kept you away?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Daniel reached into his coat.
He removed another photograph.
This one showed Thomas holding a newborn baby.
Amelia.
On the back was a handwritten message.
I SAVED HER BY BECOMING HER FATHER.
Daniel's voice cracked.
"Thomas knew that if they discovered who you were, they would come for you."
Amelia stared at the picture.
"Why me?"
Daniel took a long breath.
"Because of what happened at 3:17 that morning."
"What happened?"
"Sarah gave birth to you."
"I know."
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"You were not supposed to survive."
Amelia froze.
"Why?"
Daniel reached into his pocket again.
This time, he pulled out a small metal key.
It had the number 17 engraved into it.
He placed it in Amelia's hand.
"Because you were born with something they had spent years trying to find."
"What?"
Daniel looked at her.
"The access key to Project Seventeen."
Amelia stared at the key.
"I don't understand."
"You will."
"When?"
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
"After we get out alive."
A sudden explosion shook the chapel.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Richard shouted:
"They found us!"
Daniel grabbed Amelia.
"There's another exit."
"Where?"
"Behind the altar."
They ran.
Daniel pushed a hidden panel.
A narrow tunnel appeared.
Amelia looked back.
"Where does it lead?"
Daniel stared into the darkness.
"To the house where your mother has been hiding."
Amelia stopped breathing.
"Sarah?"
Daniel nodded.
"She's alive."
He looked at his daughter.
"And she's been waiting for you."
Another explosion shook the building.
Daniel grabbed Amelia's hand.
"Run."
May you like
And for the first time in twenty-nine years—
A father and daughter ran together into the darkness.
