Chapter 12 - Rebecca Wasn’t Running Harbor Alone
The gas was harmless.
Again.
Smoke mixed with an irritant.
Designed to frighten.
Designed to create urgency.
Designed to make us believe it might be lethal.
I wrapped my sleeve over my nose, pulled Priya low, and went for the emergency release.
Disabled.
Of course.
The ceiling camera followed us.
That mattered more than the gas.
Someone wanted footage.
I picked up a metal chair and drove it into the small side window.
First strike cracked it.
Second opened a hole.
Third cleared enough glass for air.
The laptop voice said:
“Subject chooses environmental modification over evacuation.”
I stopped.
Not because I cared about the analysis.
Because the speaker had forgotten something.
If this were only recording us, the commentary would come afterward.
The observer was live.
“Priya.”
She looked at me through watering eyes.
“Take the laptop.”
“Why?”
“Because our Watchman is still watching.”
We pushed it through the broken window first.
Then Priya climbed out.
I followed.
Security moved in only after I gave the signal.
By then the video call had disconnected.
But the laptop remained.
Forensics began capturing volatile data immediately.
Priya sat wrapped in a blanket inside an ambulance.
She refused transport.
I sat across from her.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Rhodes contacted me this morning.”
“So he did take you?”
“No.”
“I went with him.”
“Why leave everything behind?”
“He said my devices were compromised.”
“Was he right?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is he now?”
“I genuinely don’t know.”
“Did you see him at the marina?”
“For ten minutes.”
“What happened?”
“He showed me logs.”
“The Ross certificate?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you Ross admitted signing it?”
“No.”
“Then why say that?”
“Because the voice instructed me.”
“What voice?”
“The same one from the laptop.”
“Rhodes?”
She shook her head.
“That’s the problem.”
“Explain.”
“Rhodes left to get food. Five minutes later the laptop turned on by itself.”
“Remote access.”
“Yes.”
“The voice told you what to say.”
“Yes.”
“Why obey?”
Priya looked ashamed.
“Because it showed me a live camera feed of my mother’s house.”
There it was.
Dependent variable.
Watchman’s favorite lever.
“Was anyone there?”
“No.”
“But you believed they could reach her.”
“Yes.”
I understood too well to judge quickly.
“What about Rebecca?”
Priya looked around.
“Rhodes says Rebecca built Harbor as bait.”
“For who?”
“Watchman.”
I stared at her.
“Explain.”
“After Aaron died, Rebecca spent years trying to identify who modified Compass.”
“She rebuilt the program.”
“She recreated enough of it to attract whoever stole the original system.”
“So the Harbor contract was deliberate.”
“Yes.”
“Fake credentials?”
“Part of the bait.”
“Illegal experimentation on recruits?”
Priya looked sick.
“She claims that wasn’t her.”
“Who was?”
“Someone took over Harbor’s infrastructure.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t she report it?”
“She doesn’t trust command.”
“Reasonable emotionally. Criminal operationally.”
Priya nodded.
“What did Rhodes want from you?”
“To help prove the current Watchman logs were being altered the same way his were after Aaron died.”
“Did he?”
“He showed me hashes from archived Compass records and today’s breach.”
“Match?”
“Same manipulation pattern.”
“Meaning whoever framed him six years ago may be active now.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does his voice appear on Aaron’s recording?”
“He says it was edited.”
“Can he prove that?”
“He has the original audio.”
“Where?”
Priya looked toward the marina.
“He was supposed to bring it back.”
We searched.
No Rhodes.
His temporary room at the marina office had been cleared.
One thing remained.
A flash drive inside a waterproof pouch taped beneath a desk.
The label:
AARON — ORIGINAL.
Forensics opened it under controlled conditions.
The recording matched the video we had received from Rebecca.
But the voice ordering Aaron to continue was different.
Not Rhodes.
A woman.
Calm.
Controlled.
Almost gentle.
“Continue the task, Lieutenant.”
Laura listened.
Mercer listened.
Ross listened.
All three recognized her before I did.
Mercer whispered:
“Rebecca Sloan.”
Aaron’s own sister.
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
Laura looked horrified.
“Rebecca wasn’t part of Compass.”
Ross said nothing.
I turned toward him.
“You know something.”
He exhaled.
“Aaron’s sister was brought in for one family-support interview.”
“That does not explain her running the test.”
“No.”
“Then what does?”
Ross looked at the audio file.
“Unless that isn’t Rebecca.”
We isolated the voice.
Forensics compared it to current Harbor calls.
A partial match surfaced.
Not Rebecca Sloan.
Rebecca’s mother.
Dr. Margaret Sloan.
A psychologist who had served on Project Compass’s civilian ethics panel.
And according to official records, she had resigned one month before Aaron’s death.
Laura stared at the screen.
“She wasn’t gone.”
Ross’s face tightened.
“No.”
“What was she doing?”
His answer came quietly.
May you like
“She became Watchman.”
📖 Discover how Aaron Sloan’s mother became the hidden voice behind Compass—and why Rebecca may have spent six years trying to expose her own family in CHAPTER 13. 👇
