This time, it was a voice message.
She pressed play.
A woman's voice filled the corridor.
“Victoria, sweetheart…”
Victoria went completely still.
Her mother.
The voice was older, but unmistakable.
“I'm sorry I couldn't tell you everything. Your father tried to protect you. I tried, too. But the people who took him are still watching us.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
“Don't go to Blackwater Point alone. Don't trust Charles. And whatever happens, don't let them take the second photograph.”
The message ended.
Victoria stared at her phone.
Collins looked at her.
“What second photograph?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then another message arrived.
A photograph.
It showed a small wooden frame sitting on a desk.
Inside was a picture of Victoria as a child.
Standing between her mother and father.
But there was someone else in the background.
A young man in a naval uniform.
Victoria zoomed in.
She recognized him.
It was Charles Whitmore.
Standing beside her father.
And holding a folder marked:
PROJECT NIGHTFALL.
Chapter 4: Project Nightfall
Admiral Thomas Reed entered the corridor.
“Commander Hayes.”
Victoria turned.
“Sir.”
“We've received confirmation that the intelligence archive has been accessed.”
“By whom?”
“An account registered to Admiral Whitmore.”
Collins stepped forward.
“When?”
“Approximately twenty minutes ago.”
Victoria looked toward the ballroom.
“That's impossible. He's been here the entire time.”
Reed shook his head.
“Someone used his credentials remotely.”
Collins asked:
“Can we identify the terminal?”
“Yes. The access came from the old naval administration building.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Building C?”
Reed nodded.
“That's the location Eleanor mentioned.”
Collins immediately spoke into his radio.
“Get a team there. Secure the building and preserve every terminal.”
Reed looked at Victoria.
“Commander, there's something else.”
“What?”
“The archive access included a request to retrieve a sealed personnel file.”
“Whose file?”
Reed hesitated.
Then he answered.
“James Parker.”
Victoria felt her stomach tighten.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why would someone access his file now?”
Reed looked at Collins.
“Because someone changed its classification.”
Collins frowned.
“To what?”
Reed handed him a printed document.
The heading read:
PROJECT NIGHTFALL — SUBJECT TERMINATION AUTHORIZATION.
Victoria stared.
“What does that mean?”
Reed lowered his voice.
“It means someone has authorized the removal of James Parker from the protected witness registry.”
“Removal?”
“His identity would be erased from the active system.”
Victoria understood.
They were going to make her father disappear again.
“Who signed it?”
Reed looked down.
“Admiral Charles Whitmore.”
Victoria turned toward the conference room.
“Where is he?”
Collins pointed.
“Still being questioned.”
Victoria started walking.
“Commander,” Reed called.
She stopped.
“Don't confront him alone.”
Victoria looked back.
“I'm not planning to.”
But her voice had changed.
The woman who had entered the ballroom calmly was gone.
In her place stood a daughter who had spent twelve years believing her father was dead.
And someone had just authorized his disappearance for a second time.
Charles Whitmore sat in a private interview room.
His jacket was folded neatly beside him.
A glass of water remained untouched.
When Victoria entered, he looked up.
“Commander.”
“Where is my father?”
Charles leaned back.
“I've already answered that question.”
“No, you haven't.”
“You're allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment.”
Victoria placed the printed authorization on the table.
“Did you sign this?”
Charles looked at the document.
Then at her.
“I don't recognize it.”
“It's your signature.”
“Signatures can be forged.”
“Your digital credentials were used.”
“Then someone stole them.”
Victoria leaned forward.
“Who?”
Charles remained silent.
“Who has access to your credentials?”
“Several people.”
“Names.”
“I don't remember.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.