Chapter 5 — "She's Not Your Daughter…" The Stranger's Shocking Words Made the Former SEAL Raise His Gun
Jake didn't sleep.
Neither did Emma.
By two o'clock in the morning, the Marine convoy had moved everyone to a temporary secure base hidden inside an abandoned National Guard training facility thirty miles outside the city.
The windows were blacked out.
Military police guarded every entrance.
Signal jammers blocked all outside communications.
Officially...
The location didn't exist.
Emma lay asleep on a narrow cot, still clutching her stuffed rabbit against her chest.
Jake sat beside her.
He hadn't taken his eyes off her for nearly an hour.
General Richard Donovan quietly walked into the room carrying two cups of coffee.
"You should get some rest."
Jake accepted the cup but didn't drink.
"I've slept in worse places."
"I know."
For a long moment, neither man spoke.
Finally, the General sighed.
"You've become a good father."
Jake smiled faintly.
"I had a good teacher."
"Rachel."
Jake nodded.
"I still hear her voice every day."
The General looked toward Emma.
"She has her mother's smile."
Jake's expression softened.
"She does."
The peaceful silence lasted only seconds.
A young Marine lieutenant burst through the door.
"Sir!"
General Donovan turned.
"What happened?"
"We found him."
Jake stood immediately.
"The driver?"
"Yes."
"Alive?"
The lieutenant hesitated.
"Barely."
Five minutes later...
Inside the underground medical bay...
The mysterious driver lay strapped to a hospital bed.
His left shoulder had been torn apart during the high-speed pursuit when his sedan crashed into a bridge barrier.
Military medics had stabilized him.
His hands were restrained.
His eyes slowly opened as Jake entered.
The man's gaze drifted across the room.
General Donovan.
Sarah Bennett.
Several armed Marines.
Finally...
His eyes stopped on Jake.
A strange smile appeared.
"So..."
"They really found you."
Jake stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
The man ignored the question.
Instead...
He looked toward the hallway where Emma had remained asleep.
"She's beautiful."
Jake's entire body stiffened.
"Don't talk about my daughter."
The prisoner chuckled.
"You still believe she is."
The room fell silent.
Jake's jaw tightened.
"What did you say?"
The man smiled again.
"I said..."
"...she's not your daughter."
Everything stopped.
Sarah stared.
General Donovan frowned.
One Marine whispered,
"What?"
Jake grabbed the front of the man's hospital gown.
"You've got five seconds."
The prisoner never lost his smile.
"You buried Rachel."
"Yes."
"You saw the doctors."
"Yes."
"You signed the paperwork."
"Yes."
"And yet..."
He leaned forward as far as the restraints allowed.
"...you never asked why the DNA test was classified."
Jake released him.
His heartbeat thundered.
"What DNA test?"
The General looked sharply toward the prisoner.
"What are you talking about?"
The man laughed weakly.
"You really don't know."
Jake's breathing became heavier.
"When Rachel became sick..."
"...the military ran blood analysis."
Sarah frowned.
"Why would the military test a civilian?"
"Because Rachel wasn't a civilian anymore."
Jake's eyes widened.
"That's impossible."
The prisoner's smile faded.
"No."
"The impossible part..."
"...is what they found."
General Donovan slammed his fist onto the bedrail.
"Enough riddles!"
"Tell us!"
The prisoner slowly turned toward him.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know."
"What?"
"I only know what we were told."
Jake stepped closer.
"Who told you?"
The answer came immediately.
"Project Sentinel."
Those two words froze the room.
General Donovan's face went pale.
"You've heard of it?"
Sarah whispered.
The General didn't answer.
Jake noticed.
"You know something."
Donovan slowly removed his glasses.
"I prayed..."
"...I would never hear that name again."
Jake stared.
"What is Project Sentinel?"
The General closed his eyes.
"It wasn't supposed to exist."
"Then tell me."
"It began twenty-three years ago."
"What began?"
The General struggled to speak.
"A military research program."
Sarah frowned.
"Research into what?"
Donovan looked toward Emma's room.
Then back at Jake.
"Children."
The room became silent.
Jake's voice dropped.
"What kind of research?"
The General whispered,
"Children born to elite military families."
Jake felt his stomach twist.
"What does that have to do with Emma?"
Before Donovan could answer—
Alarms suddenly exploded throughout the facility.
Red emergency lights began flashing.
A loudspeaker echoed through every hallway.
SECURITY BREACH!
SECURITY BREACH!
ALL PERSONNEL TO DEFENSIVE POSITIONS!
Marines sprinted past the medical bay.
Outside...
Automatic gunfire erupted.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
A young corporal shouted from the corridor.
"They're inside!"
General Donovan grabbed his sidearm.
"Protect the child!"
Jake was already running.
His only thought was Emma.
He reached the sleeping quarters.
The guards outside were unconscious.
Not dead.
Drugged.
The door stood open.
Jake burst inside.
Emma was gone.
Again.
Only this time...
There was no stuffed rabbit.
No blanket.
No footprints.
Nothing.
Except a single white envelope lying neatly in the center of her empty cot.
Jake tore it open.
Inside was one photograph.
Emma.
Smiling.
Standing beside Rachel.
But Rachel looked different.
She wore military camouflage.
Across the back of the photograph were six handwritten words.
She was never who you believed.
Jake's hands began to shake.
For the first time since Rachel's death...
He questioned everything.
Outside the room...
General Donovan slowly picked up another document that had fallen from the envelope.
His face lost all color.
Jake looked at him.
"What is it?"
The General swallowed hard.
"It's Rachel's service file."
Jake frowned.
"My wife never served."
Donovan looked him directly in the eyes.
According to this file...
"...Captain Rachel Morrison died eight years before you met her."
The hallway fell into stunned silence.
Jake couldn't breathe.
If Rachel had officially died years before they met...
Then who had he married?
And...
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Who was the little girl he loved more than his own life?
To Be Continued…
