I stared at my father.
“Did you know?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
I wanted to believe him.
But fifteen years of lies had taught me the price of trusting him without evidence.
The next morning, I visited Grandma at the hospital.
She was propped against pillows, sipping apple juice with an expression of quiet dissatisfaction.
“Hospital coffee is a crime against humanity,” she announced.
I laughed before I could stop myself.
“Good morning to you too.”
She opened her arms.
I crossed the room and hugged her.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Then she touched my cheek.
“You look tired, sweetheart.”
“It’s been a long week.”
“Life has a way of saving its worst surprises for when you’ve finally made your hair look nice.”
I laughed again.
Then my eyes filled.
“Grandma, why didn’t you tell me?”
Her smile faded.
“About the recording?”
“About everything.”
She studied my face.
“Because I was trying to make sure the truth could survive long enough to matter.”
I sat beside her.
“You could’ve trusted me.”
“I did trust you.”
“Then why keep it from me?”
“Because you had a life to build.”
I looked down.
She took my hand.
“Erin, when your father threw you out, you were already carrying more hurt than any young woman should have to carry. You were determined to prove yourself. I didn’t want a dangerous fight with Victor Sloane to swallow your entire future.”
“Grandma—”
“I knew you would come back if I asked.”
I couldn’t deny it.
She squeezed my fingers.
“And I knew that if you came back before investigators were ready, he’d target you.”
I stared at her.
“So you kept the evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Why now?”
Her eyes shone.
“Because Daniel Cross came to see me.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
I sat straighter.
“You knew he was alive?”
She nodded.
“He told me what happened to him. He told me investigators were close to exposing the men behind his captivity.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“He asked me not to while they verified certain information. They were worried about leaks.”
My grandmother looked deeply troubled.
“Erin, he also told me something I haven’t told your father.”
I felt a knot form in my chest.
“What?”
She glanced toward the door.
“Victor didn’t choose Caitlyn at random.”
“What do you mean?”
“He needed someone young enough to trust him. Someone connected to your father. Someone whose career could put her near sensitive programs in the future.”
I thought about the fellowship.
The prestigious assignments.
The recruiter who promised Caitlyn the world.
“Helix wanted influence inside the Navy,” I whispered.
Grandma nodded.
“And there’s more.”
I stared at her.
She reached beneath her pillow and removed a folded piece of paper.
“I wrote this down after Daniel visited.”
I unfolded it.
There was a date.
A bank name.
And a transaction reference.
Below them, four words were written in Grandma’s careful handwriting.
Ask Michael about Lauren.
My heart began pounding.
“Grandma, what is this?”
She closed her eyes.
“A payment I found in your brother’s papers.”
I stared at the number.
It was considerably larger than the consulting contract Michael had admitted.
A deposit of $750,000.
And the payment description contained two words that changed everything.
Project Sparrow.
My childhood nickname.
My own family’s private name for me.
Suddenly, I understood.
The money wasn’t simply payment for legal consulting.
It was connected to me.
I looked at Grandma.
“What has Michael done?”
Her face filled with sorrow.
“I was hoping you would tell me, sweetheart.”
At that moment, my phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
Your brother has already sold you out. Check what happened seven months ago.
Attached was a photograph of me.
Standing outside a secure military facility.
Taken from a distance.
Seven months earlier.
On a day when only a handful of people should have known where I was.
And beneath the photograph were five words.
MICHAEL CALLAHAN PROVIDED YOUR LOCATION.
