Chapter 29 - THE LEDGER
Nathan Vale talked.
Not because he was sorry.
Because men like Vale preferred controlling the story to losing it.
Voss was arrested two days later.
Halcyon offices were searched.
Servers seized.
Contracts frozen.
Three federal agencies opened reviews.
Carver's cooperation agreement expanded.
Marcus's undercover role became public inside the investigation.
Leah punched him in the shoulder when she saw him again.
Not hard.
Her ribs still hurt.
“You could've told me.”
Marcus smiled.
“Would've ruined my mysterious personality.”
She almost smiled back.
Daniel didn't.
He was reading.
The Halcyon master ledger contained hundreds of entries.
Candidates.
Evaluators.
Clients.
Programs.
Site Five occupied twelve pages.
Site Six occupied one.
Almost everything had been deleted.
Except payment totals.
Site Six had received more money than every previous program combined.
Daniel looked at the investigator.
“For what?”
“We don't know.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
“Who ran it?”
She turned the screen.
DIRECTOR: REDACTED.
Marcus entered.
“I may know.”
Everyone turned.
He placed a flash drive on the table.
“I copied it before Halcyon realized I was inside.”
The investigator plugged it in.
One folder.
S6.
Password protected.
Marcus typed:
CONTROL.
Rejected.
Daniel looked at the screen.
“Try STOP.”
Marcus typed it.
Rejected.
Leah stepped closer.
“What would Vale think is stronger than control?”
Daniel looked at her.
Then typed:
OBEDIENCE.
The folder opened.
Inside were no training videos.
No fighters.
No combat evaluations.
Just family trees.
Thousands of them.
Military instructors.
Police officers.
Athletes.
Contractors.
Their children.
Their spouses.
Their siblings.
Marcus went pale.
“This isn't recruitment.”
Daniel opened one file.
RAYMOND COLE.
Family tree.
Another.
DAVID HALE.
Family tree.
Then:
DANIEL MILLER.
Leah appeared beneath him.
Profile active.
Daniel's face hardened.
A date appeared beside Leah's name.
Created eleven years ago.
Long before she ever entered Carver's gym.
Leah stared.
“They already knew me.”
Daniel scrolled lower.
One line waited at the bottom.
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SITE 6 OBJECTIVE:
PREDICT THE NEXT GENERATION BEFORE CONTACT.
