“You remember the names of every officer who attended your promotion ceremony, but you can't remember who has access to your own credentials?”
Charles's expression hardened.
“Watch your tone.”
Victoria placed both hands on the table.
“You have spent years hiding behind that uniform. You have convinced people that rank makes you untouchable.”
Charles stared.
“You're making a mistake.”
“No. My father made one.”
“What mistake?”
“He trusted you.”
Charles's face changed.
For the first time, he looked genuinely angry.
“Your father was a reckless man.”
“He was loyal.”
“He was dangerous.”
“He was honest.”
“He was willing to destroy everything.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“What did he find?”
Charles looked toward the observation window.
“Your father discovered Project Nightfall.”
Victoria's expression tightened.
“Explain it.”
Charles sighed.
“Project Nightfall was an intelligence protection initiative.”
“That's not what the documents say.”
“It was designed to identify threats to national security.”
“Then why were witnesses disappearing?”
“Because some witnesses were compromised.”
“Why was my mother classified as dead?”
Charles said nothing.
“Why was my father declared a deserter?”
Still nothing.
Victoria's voice dropped.
“Why did you invite me here tonight?”
Charles finally looked at her.
“Because I wanted to see whether you still had the watch.”
“Why?”
“Because your father left something inside it.”
“What's Project Nightfall hiding?”
Charles leaned forward.
“Commander, there are things in this country that cannot be allowed to become public.”
Victoria stared at him.
“Then perhaps they shouldn't have happened.”
Charles shook his head.
“You think the world is simple. You think there are good people and bad people, honest officers and corrupt officers. But national security is not a courtroom drama.”
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
“Neither is my father's disappearance.”
Charles looked down.
Then he said:
“Your father wasn't the only person who discovered Nightfall.”
Victoria waited.
“Your mother was involved, too.”
Victoria felt her heart tighten.
“In what way?”
“She helped design the original records system.”
Victoria stared.
“My mother was a schoolteacher.”
“That was her public occupation.”
“What was her real job?”
Charles hesitated.
“She was a civilian cryptographic analyst.”
Victoria sat back.
“What?”
“She worked with naval communications. She was exceptionally talented.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because she left that work before you were born.”
Victoria thought about her childhood.
Her mother's books.
The strange puzzles she used to solve.
The way she could remember long strings of numbers.
The small locked desk in the study.
The answers she never gave when Victoria asked what she had done before becoming a teacher.
Charles continued.
“Your mother helped create the encryption system used to protect certain intelligence records. When she discovered that Nightfall was being used to alter identities, she tried to expose it.”
Victoria stared.
“And my father helped her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you target them?”
Charles looked at her.
“I didn't.”
Victoria placed the document on the table.
“Your signature says otherwise.”
Charles leaned back.
“Do you really believe I'm the person in charge?”
Victoria narrowed her eyes.
“Who is?”
Charles looked toward the observation window.
Then he whispered:
“Someone who was standing in that ballroom tonight.”
Victoria froze.
“Who?”
Charles didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at the small security camera above the door.
Then he spoke very quietly.
“Get me out of this room.”
Victoria frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if they know I've told you this much, neither of us is leaving this building alive.”
A sudden alarm sounded in the corridor.
The lights flickered.
Collins opened the door.
“Commander! We have a situation.”
Victoria turned.
“What happened?”
“Eleanor Whitmore has disappeared.”
Victoria stared.
“How?”