"Treatment area three."
They moved quickly.
A nurse stepped into their path.
"Excuse me. You can't enter this area."
Marcus showed his identification.
"Military investigation. We're looking for Dr. Laura Bennett."
The nurse frowned.
"She's with a patient."
"Then we'll wait."
The nurse glanced toward Rex.
"Is the dog authorized to be here?"
Marcus looked down.
"He's the reason we're here."
Before the nurse could respond, a woman's voice came from behind the treatment doors.
"Marcus?"
He stopped.
The voice was familiar.
Not because he had heard it recently.
Because he had spent years remembering it.
A woman in her late fifties emerged wearing a white coat.
Her hair was dark with silver at the temples.
Her eyes were tired.
And around her neck was a small silver necklace Marcus remembered from childhood.
He stared.
"Mom?"
The woman covered her mouth.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then she stepped toward him.
"My son."
Marcus didn't move.
He looked at her as if he were afraid that one wrong movement would make her disappear.
"You're alive."
She nodded.
"Yes."
"You let us bury you."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I know."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I know, Marcus."
He shook his head.
"No. You don't know."
His voice broke.
"You weren't there when Christopher disappeared. You weren't there when Dad stopped sleeping. You weren't there when we received that package with his identification."
His mother began crying.
"I wanted to come home."
"Then why didn't you?"
She looked toward General Brooks.
"Because they were watching you."
Marcus followed her gaze.
"Who?"
His mother took a breath.
"Colonel Whitaker was only one part of it."
She looked at Rex.
"And this dog was the only reason I knew you were still alive."
Marcus frowned.
"What?"
She crouched carefully and touched Rex's head.
"Hello, sweetheart."
Rex sniffed her hand.
Then he moved closer.
His tail began to wag.
Marcus stared.
"He's met you before?"
She nodded.
"Many times."
"When?"
"Before you received him."
Marcus stepped back.
"That doesn't make sense."
His mother looked at him.
"Marcus, I was the one who approved his transfer."
The words struck him.
He remembered Christopher's letter.
Ask Mother why she signed the original agreement.
He looked at her.
"What agreement?"
She closed her eyes.
"The Sentinel agreement."
General Brooks stepped forward.
"Elizabeth, we need the full truth."
Marcus turned sharply.
"Elizabeth?"
His mother looked at him.
"My name is Elizabeth Morgan."
Marcus stared.
The name from the archive.
The original program director.
The woman who had signed the transfer agreement.
"You were the director?"
She nodded.
"For three years."
"Then you helped them."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"Why?"
Elizabeth looked at him.
"Because I believed I was saving your brother."
She paused.
"But the agreement was never about Christopher."
She looked at Rex.
"It was about you."
The original agreement
They moved into a small consultation room.
Elizabeth closed the door.
Marcus remained standing.
General Brooks sat opposite her.
Emily placed the metal tags on the table.
Elizabeth stared at them.
"Where did you find the second one?"
"Inside Rex's collar," Marcus replied.
She nodded.
"Then Christopher succeeded."
"What did he succeed in doing?"
"Keeping the original identification sequence intact."
Marcus leaned forward.
"Stop speaking in riddles."
Elizabeth looked at him.
"Six years ago, Christopher discovered that Sentinel was being used to hide military witnesses. He found records showing that injured personnel were being transferred to private facilities under false identities."
"Why?"
"Some had witnessed illegal operations. Others had evidence that senior officers had ordered missions that were never officially authorized."
General Brooks interrupted.
"Who was running the program?"
Elizabeth looked at him.
"Colonel Whitaker was responsible for military coordination. Dr. Lawson handled the medical transfers. But neither of them created Sentinel."