A Single Dad Used an Old Pilot Call Sign—The CEO Suddenly Realized Who He Really Was
Chapter 6
Arthur Vale welcomed Elizabeth into his office as though nothing had happened.
“How was your trip?”
Elizabeth sat across from him.
“Fine.”
He smiled.
“You look tired.”
“I am.”
Arthur poured coffee.
“Your father used to work himself into the ground too.”
Elizabeth watched him carefully.
“Did you know Richard Sloan?”
Arthur’s hand stopped.
“For years.”
“Did you know he kept records?”
Arthur smiled.
“Richard kept records of everything.”
“Did you know about the accident?”
“Of course.”
“Did you know my father survived?”
Arthur looked at her.
The silence lasted three seconds.
Then he laughed.
“Elizabeth.”
“What?”
“Your father died.”
She stared at him.
“You sound very certain.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
Arthur’s smile disappeared.
“Because I was there.”
Elizabeth’s heart stopped.
“What?”
Arthur leaned back.
“I was part of the recovery team.”
“You told me you weren’t.”
“I didn’t think the details mattered.”
Elizabeth stood.
“They matter to me.”
Arthur looked at her.
“You’ve been investigating.”
It wasn’t a question.
Elizabeth didn’t answer.
Arthur’s voice became colder.
“Stop.”
She stared.
“Or what?”
He looked at her.
“People you care about could get hurt.”
Elizabeth understood.
The threat wasn’t subtle anymore.
She walked out.
Marcus was waiting.
“Well?”
“He knows.”
Marcus nodded.
“I expected that.”
Elizabeth looked at him.
“Arthur admitted he was there.”
Marcus frowned.
“That’s new.”
They returned to the restricted archive.
Marcus used his old aviation knowledge to reconstruct the flight data.
There was a missing seventeen-minute segment.
It had been deleted.
But fragments remained.
A partial audio file.
Marcus restored it.
Static filled the room.
Then Thomas Harper’s voice.
“…if anyone receives this…”
Marcus froze.
Elizabeth covered her mouth.
Her father’s voice continued.
“…do not trust Vale.”
Elizabeth began crying.
The recording cut out.
Marcus restored another fragment.
Thomas spoke again.
“…the aircraft wasn’t lost…”
Static.
“…we were forced down…”
Then nothing.
Elizabeth stared at the screen.
“He’s alive.”
Marcus shook his head.
“We don’t know that.”
“But he said—”
“That recording could be from the day of the crash.”
Elizabeth wiped her eyes.
“What if he survived?”
“Then we find him.”
The recording contained coordinates.
Old coordinates.
Marcus recognized them.
“That’s not where the crash was reported.”
“Where is it?”
“Alaska.”
Elizabeth stared.
“Why Alaska?”
Marcus zoomed in.
A small abandoned airfield appeared.
He knew it.
“Your father had an emergency landing site there.”
Elizabeth looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“He designed it.”
They flew to Alaska the next morning.
The airfield was abandoned.
Snow covered the runway.
A collapsed hangar stood at the edge.
Marcus searched inside.
Nothing.
Then he found a metal plate beneath the floor.
He removed it.
A narrow tunnel descended beneath the hangar.
Elizabeth followed.
At the bottom was a small room.
A table.
A radio.
Old medical supplies.
And a photograph.
Thomas Harper.
Alive.
Standing beside a younger Marcus.
Elizabeth picked it up.
Her hands shook.
On the back was a message.
If Ghost Six ever comes looking, tell him I kept my promise.
Marcus stared at the words.
Then the radio suddenly crackled.
A voice came through.
“Ghost Six?”
Marcus froze.
The voice repeated.
“Ghost Six, if you’re listening…”
Marcus stepped toward the radio.
“This is Ghost Six.”
Static.
Then a familiar voice.
“I knew you’d come.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Thomas Harper was alive.
