The project had been dead for twenty-two years. So why did its final file contain a photograph of her?
CHAPTER 8
Nora and Ethan escaped Millhaven before dawn.
The old road wound through the mountains.
Rain battered the windshield.
Nora reread her father’s letter.
“He knew this would happen.”
Ethan nodded.
“Your father planned for someone to find the files.”
“But why leave them here?”
“Because he needed someone unpredictable enough to discover them.”
Nora looked at him.
“You think he wanted me to find Bellwether?”
“Maybe.”
“Or someone wanted me to.”
Neither spoke.
Then Ethan noticed a strange detail.
The letter contained a series of numbers.
Coordinates.
They led to an old railway station outside Altoona.
Inside the abandoned station, they found a locked room.
Behind a false wall was a small apartment.
There was food.
Clothes.
Books.
A bed.
Someone had lived there recently.
Nora walked slowly through the room.
On the desk was a photograph.
Her father.
Older.
Alive.
Taken only two years earlier.
Nora’s knees nearly gave out.
“He survived.”
Ethan looked at the photograph.
“There was no body.”
“So he’s alive.”
A sound came from behind them.
A gun clicked.
Nora turned.
An older man stood in the doorway.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Tired eyes.
Her entire world stopped.
“Dad?”
Daniel Bennett lowered the gun.
For several seconds, he couldn’t speak.
Then he whispered:
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
Nora ran toward him.
He stepped back.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
“Why?”
“Because they are watching.”
“Who?”
“Everyone.”
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“You shouldn’t have brought him.”
Ethan stared.
“Your daughter found me.”
Daniel looked at Nora.
“You need to leave.”
“No.”
“Nora—”
“You disappeared for twenty-two years.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You don’t get to decide that anymore.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
He finally lowered the gun.
“I was wrong.”
Nora stepped closer.
“What is Bellwether now?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“It’s not Bellwether anymore.”
“What is it?”
“A private system.”
“Who runs it?”
Daniel whispered one name.
“Richard Hale.”
Nora felt the room spin.
Then Daniel said something worse.
“Hale knows you’re here.”
The lights went out.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Daniel pushed Nora to the floor.
“He’s here.”
