Chapter 12
Marcus could barely stand.
They had starved him.
Drugged him.
Questioned him for months.
He had been kept alive because Vale still needed codes.
Military death files.
Dependent records.
Classified family relocation data.
Marcus had refused.
So they buried another soldier under his name and waited for me to break.
But Marcus knew me.
He knew grief might bend me.
It would not empty me.
Paramedics carried him out as dawn broke over the mountains.
The rescued children followed in blankets.
Some cried.
Some stared silently.
One boy saluted Grant with trembling fingers.
She saluted back.
I will never forget that.
At the base hospital, Marcus and I were placed in adjoining secure rooms.
He kept asking to see me.
I kept asking to see him.
The nurses gave up and rolled his bed beside mine.
He touched my face like he was memorizing proof.
“They told me you were dead,” he whispered.
“They gave me a funeral.”
His eyes closed.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
My voice broke.
“No apologies from the man in chains.”
He looked at my belly.
“Boy or girl?”
“We waited.”
His mouth trembled.
“Still?”
“Still.”
He placed his hand over the baby.
The kick came instantly.
Marcus laughed and sobbed at once.
Then his face hardened.
“Vale has files on your family.”
“I know about Raymond.”
“Not just Raymond.”
My breath caught.
“Who?”
Marcus looked toward the guarded door.
“Your father met Vale before I disappeared.”
I went cold.
May you like
“My father?”
“He sold them access.”
