CHAPTER 12 The Price of the Truth
Gabriel's footsteps echoed across the command center.
No one moved.
His calm expression was almost unsettling.
He wasn't in a hurry.
He didn't need to be.
He looked directly at Elena.
"I've come for you."
Daniel immediately stepped between them.
"She's not going anywhere."
Gabriel smiled politely.
"I wasn't asking your permission."
Michael tightened his grip on the fire axe.
"You picked the wrong room."
Gabriel glanced around.
"No."
"I picked the only room where everyone finally knows enough to make the wrong decision."
Rachel kept her pistol aimed at his chest.
"Stop talking."
"Or I'll shoot."
Gabriel looked at the barrel.
Then back at Rachel.
"If you intended to shoot..."
"...you would've done it already."
Rachel's finger trembled.
But she didn't fire.
Richard stepped forward.
"What do you want?"
Gabriel answered without hesitation.
"The briefcase."
Michael held the Project Phoenix case closer.
"No."
Gabriel sighed.
"I expected that."
He reached into his coat.
Daniel instinctively tensed.
Instead of a weapon...
Gabriel removed a worn leather wallet.
He opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
Richard stared.
It showed him.
Claire.
Margaret.
Rachel.
Taken nearly thirty years earlier.
They were laughing together beside a lake.
Richard frowned.
"Where did you get that?"
Gabriel closed the wallet.
"I was there."
Silence filled the room.
Rachel slowly lowered her pistol.
"No..."
Gabriel looked at her.
"You finally recognize me."
Richard searched Gabriel's face.
His eyes widened.
"The photographer..."
Gabriel smiled faintly.
"You remember."
Elena looked confused.
"Dad?"
Richard's voice became barely audible.
"He worked for my company."
"He disappeared before you were born."
Gabriel nodded.
"I disappeared because Phoenix recruited me."
Michael narrowed his eyes.
"So you were one of them."
Gabriel shook his head.
"I became one of them."
"There is a difference."
A warning siren suddenly echoed through the command center.
Rachel rushed to a backup monitor.
Power had returned to part of the estate.
Dozens of armed vehicles were entering through the eastern gate.
Not Margaret's.
Not Victor's.
Daniel frowned.
"Who are they?"
Rachel zoomed in.
The lead vehicle carried a government insignia.
Richard's face hardened.
"No..."
Michael looked at him.
"You know that symbol?"
Richard nodded slowly.
"I hoped I'd never see it again."
Gabriel walked toward the monitor.
"They're not here to rescue anyone."
"They're here to erase everything."
Lily tugged on Elena's sleeve.
"Mom..."
"Why does everyone keep saying we're in danger?"
Elena knelt beside her daughter.
"Because some people are afraid of the truth."
Lily thought for a moment.
"Then..."
"Why don't we just tell everyone?"
No one answered.
Because they all knew...
The truth alone wouldn't save them.
Gabriel turned back toward Michael.
"The briefcase."
Michael shook his head again.
"No."
Gabriel smiled.
"Open it."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Victor never looked inside."
Michael slowly placed the briefcase on a steel table.
He unlocked it.
Again.
Files.
Drives.
Passports.
Cash.
Nothing new.
Gabriel reached inside.
He pressed against the leather lining.
A hidden compartment popped open.
Everyone stared.
Inside rested a single black flash drive.
And a folded handwritten note.
Richard recognized the handwriting immediately.
Claire's.
His hands trembled as he unfolded it.
Richard,
If you're reading this, it means I couldn't stop them alone.
Don't hate me for leaving.
I needed them to believe I chose their side.
Everything I've done...
...was to protect our children.
Richard stopped reading.
Tears blurred the page.
Elena whispered,
"Mom wrote that?"
He nodded silently.
Michael gently took the letter.
He continued reading aloud.
Michael survived.
Elena must never know where I am until the Phoenix Archive is destroyed.
Trust Rachel.
Do not trust anyone carrying the Ashford name.
Daniel felt the room spin.
He looked down.
His surname.
Ashford.
He slowly stepped backward.
"I didn't know..."
Elena immediately took his hand.
"I know."
But Daniel wasn't looking at her.
He was looking at Richard.
Richard's expression remained unreadable.
Before anyone could speak—
A sharp beeping sound came from the flash drive.
Gabriel's eyes widened.
"Don't touch it."
Too late.
Michael had already picked it up.
The drive projected a holographic map into the center of the room.
A map of the entire coastline.
One location blinked bright red.
BLACKWATER LIGHTHOUSE
Then another location lit up.
Only three miles away.
Hidden beneath the cliffs.
Labeled:
PHOENIX ARCHIVE
Rachel gasped.
"It still exists."
Gabriel nodded.
"That's why everyone is here."
Suddenly—
Every monitor switched on again.
Margaret appeared.
This time she wasn't smiling.
She looked furious.
"You found the archive."
Gabriel folded his arms.
"You underestimated Claire."
Margaret's eyes shifted to Elena.
"No."
"I underestimated her daughter."
She pressed something off-screen.
The holographic map changed.
A new countdown appeared.
08:00:00
Eight hours.
Rachel stared.
"What did you do?"
Margaret answered calmly.
"I armed the Archive."
"If anyone enters without the master authorization..."
"...every file inside will be permanently destroyed."
Richard clenched his fists.
"Thousands of victims..."
Margaret nodded.
"And every secret dies with them."
Michael looked toward Gabriel.
"So what's the plan?"
Gabriel's expression became serious.
"We split up."
Richard frowned.
"No."
Gabriel pointed at the map.
"We don't have enough time."
"One team goes to Blackwater Lighthouse."
"The other goes to the Phoenix Archive."
Elena looked at the blinking locations.
They were miles apart.
"If we split..."
"...someone won't come back."
No one argued.
Because everyone knew she was right.
At that exact moment...
Sophia's face suddenly appeared on a side monitor.
She looked injured.
Blood stained her shoulder.
She was breathing hard.
"I don't have long."
Everyone rushed toward the screen.
Sophia looked directly at Elena.
"They lied."
"Your mother isn't inside the lighthouse."
Elena's heart skipped.
"What?"
Sophia shook her head.
"The lighthouse..."
"...is only bait."
Static filled the screen.
Sophia forced out one last sentence before the signal died.
"If you want to save Claire..."
"...go underground."
The transmission ended.
Silence returned.
Gabriel slowly looked at the map.
Then at the hidden marker labeled PHOENIX ARCHIVE.
May you like
He whispered,
"So that's where she's been..."
