Collins immediately called the tactical team.
“Change destination. Blackwater Point. Move now.”
Victoria stepped toward the exit.
Then she stopped.
There was one more detail in the photograph.
On the table beside Eleanor sat a small object.
A silver wristwatch.
Victoria stared.
It was identical to the watch her father had given her.
Except this one had a different engraving.
She zoomed in.
The inscription read:
FOR MARGARET — ALWAYS.
Victoria whispered:
“My father is there.”
And then, for the first time that evening, she smiled.
Not because she felt safe.
But because she finally knew where to look.
Chapter 6: Blackwater Point
Blackwater Point was nearly forty miles from the hotel.
The convoy traveled through heavy rain, following a narrow coastal road that wound between dark trees and abandoned naval properties.
Victoria sat in the back of an unmarked federal vehicle.
She hadn't spoken for twenty minutes.
Her phone rested in her hand.
The photograph of her mother remained open on the screen.
Collins sat beside her, reviewing the preliminary information.
“There's something I need to tell you.”
Victoria didn't look up.
“What?”
“We found a record of your mother's death.”
“I know. I attended the funeral.”
“No. I mean the original medical record.”
Victoria finally looked at him.
“What about it?”
“The hospital listed her cause of death as cardiac arrest. But the physician who supposedly signed the certificate wasn't working at the hospital that day.”
Victoria's expression tightened.
“So the certificate was forged.”
“That's what it looks like.”
“Who authorized it?”
Collins turned his tablet toward her.
A name appeared.
ADMIRAL CHARLES WHITMORE.
Victoria looked away.
“He signed everything.”
“Not everything.”
Collins opened another document.
“This is the original authorization for your mother's transfer into protected custody.”
Victoria read the heading.
Then the signature.
MARGARET HAYES — CONSENTING PARTY.
She stared.
“My mother agreed to disappear?”
“Possibly.”
“Why?”
“That's what we need to establish.”
Victoria shook her head.
“She would never have left me.”
Collins didn't answer.
Victoria looked back at the document.
There was a handwritten note at the bottom.
DEPENDENT CHILD: VICTORIA HAYES.
Beside it was another sentence.
DO NOT DISCLOSE SUBJECT'S SURVIVAL UNTIL PROJECT COMPLETION.
Victoria felt sick.
“What does 'project completion' mean?”
“We don't know.”
“Then find out.”
Collins closed the document.
“We will.”
The vehicle slowed.
Through the rain-covered window, Victoria saw a rusted sign.
BLACKWATER POINT — RESTRICTED ACCESS.
Beyond it stood the old lighthouse.
Its white exterior had become gray with age. The windows were dark, and the upper lantern room was empty.
No light.
No movement.
Only the sound of the sea crashing against the rocks below.
The convoy stopped outside the gate.
Reed stepped out of the lead vehicle.
“Perimeter is clear.”
Collins checked his weapon.
“Any movement inside?”
“Not yet.”
Victoria opened the door.
Collins caught her arm.
“Stay behind us.”
She nodded.
They moved through the gate.
The old communications station stood beneath the lighthouse, partially hidden by overgrown bushes.
A single light glowed behind one of its windows.
Victoria stopped.
“That's where my father used to take me.”
Collins looked at the building.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She walked toward the entrance.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled of dust and saltwater.
An old radio console sat against the far wall.
A desk stood beneath a window.
And on the desk was a photograph.
Victoria approached it.
The photograph showed her mother and father standing beside the lighthouse.
Her father was smiling.
Her mother was holding a small child.
Victoria.
But there was something written on the back.