Chapter 10 - The Dead Man Returned
Thomas was thinner than in the unit photograph.
A scar crossed his face.
He walked with a cane.
Dad stared at him.
“You’re alive.”
“Barely.”
Marcus turned toward Thomas.
“You were supposed to stay inside.”
Thomas ignored him.
He looked at me.
“You found the photos.”
“Yes.”
“I left them in Wade’s office. Rachel moved them to your phone.”
Dad’s expression sharpened.
“You’ve been working with Marcus?”
Thomas shook his head.
“I’ve been watching him.”
Marcus ordered everyone inside.
Detective Mills refused.
“This is now a homicide investigation.”
Marcus produced federal documents claiming military jurisdiction.
Thomas laughed.
“Those papers are forged.”
Marcus reached for his weapon.
Dad moved first.
He disarmed him before anyone else could react.
Military investigators surrounded Marcus.
Thomas revealed the truth.
Colonel Reed had not been hunting the people who killed Emma.
He had helped Wade silence her.
Emma discovered Marcus and Wade were selling recovered weapons through private contractors.
When she threatened exposure, Marcus gave Wade her location.
He later pretended she abandoned him.
Thomas survived the helicopter crash because he learned the mission coordinates had been compromised.
He spent four years collecting evidence.
The ledger contained every payment.
Diane transferred some of the money, but Marcus controlled the operation.
Wade’s wedding was designed to give him permanent access to the property before Thomas exposed the basement grave.
Thomas had planned to enter during the reception.
Then I discovered the photographs too soon.
Everything collapsed.
Marcus was arrested.
Wade and Nolan remained in custody.
But Thomas did not look relieved.
“The ledger is not in the warehouse.”
“Where is it?” Dad asked.
Thomas turned toward me.
“In Ava’s phone.”
I held it up.
“There are only photos.”
“There is another partition.”
He entered a code.
A hidden folder appeared.
It contained hundreds of documents.
And one video recorded by Diane three nights earlier.
My mother sat alone in the basement.
May you like
She looked into the camera and said:
“Daniel, if you see this, Wade knows Ava isn’t your daughter.”
