Chapter 7 - General Cross Knew Mark’s Real Name
William Cross arrived at 0700.
Rebecca watched him step from the staff vehicle.
Silver hair.
Perfect uniform.
Controlled expression.
He hugged her.
“Rebecca. Hell of a reunion.”
She did not return the warmth.
“You changed Mark Reagan’s orders.”
Cross looked toward Mark.
“Did I?”
“You signed them.”
“I sign hundreds.”
Mark stood rigid.
Cross smiled.
“You look like Daniel.”
The hallway went silent.
Mark’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew my father?”
Cross realized his mistake.
Officially, Daniel Reagan had died before Cross joined the relevant command.
Cross recovered.
“I’ve seen photographs.”
Rebecca said, “Which photographs?”
He smiled at her.
“Still interrogating everyone.”
“Only people who answer questions I didn’t ask.”
Cross’s smile disappeared.
Rebecca requested a formal meeting with legal counsel and investigators present.
Cross agreed.
He had little choice.
He denied involvement with Meridian.
Denied knowing Station Grey.
Denied deliberately transferring Mark.
Then Rebecca showed him the transfer order.
The request originated from his personal staff account.
Cross blamed an aide.
Mark placed Daniel’s pendant on the table.
Cross looked at it.
Only briefly.
But Rebecca saw recognition.
“Seen one before?” she asked.
“No.”
“Daniel carried it.”
“So?”
“Owen Price had one too.”
Cross leaned back.
“Are we investigating jewelry now?”
Rebecca studied him.
“No. We’re investigating why two men connected to Winter Lantern disappeared after looking for a ledger.”
Cross’s eyes changed.
He knew.
Not necessarily where it was.
But what it was.
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Where is Major Ellis?”
“I have no idea.”
“Owen Price?”
“No.”
“Elaine Voss?”
Cross smiled faintly.
“Ask her.”
“We will.”
Rebecca had already requested Elaine’s location.
Her attorney said she was unavailable.
Cross stood.
“This meeting is over.”
Mark said, “My father lived eighteen years after you people declared him dead.”
Cross stopped.
For one second, something like regret crossed his face.
Then it vanished.
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Look at me and say it.”
Cross turned.
“I did not know Daniel Reagan was alive.”
Rebecca believed the sentence was technically crafted.
He may not have known Daniel’s identity.
Or he may have learned later.
She asked:
“Did you know David Raines?”
Cross’s face emptied.
Mark stood.
There.
The name mattered.
Cross said nothing.
Rebecca whispered, “You knew him.”
Cross looked at the legal officer.
“I want counsel.”
The meeting ended.
Hours later, investigators found Cross and David Raines had attended the same private security conference fourteen years earlier.
A photograph showed them in the same room.
Cross claimed he did not remember.
Then Anna found a letter Daniel never mailed.
Rebecca read it.
William Cross recognized me today.
Mark gripped the table.
The letter continued.
He called me Daniel when no one else could hear.
Cross knew exactly who David Raines was.
Daniel wrote that Cross offered him money to stay quiet.
Daniel refused.
Two weeks later, someone broke into his house.
Nothing was stolen.
A photograph of Mark was left on the kitchen table.
Rebecca felt rage.
Daniel spent the final years of his life still being threatened through his son.
Mark walked outside.
Rebecca followed.
He punched a concrete column.
“Mark.”
“Don’t.”
“You’ll break your hand.”
“Good.”
“Your father spent his life trying to keep you safe.”
Mark turned.
“And what did that get him?”
Rebecca had no answer.
He looked at her.
“You got a career. Cross got stars. Voss got a legacy. My father got another name and a box of letters he was too scared to send.”
Rebecca let the words land.
Then she said:
“You’re right.”
Mark’s anger faltered.
“I can’t give him those years back.”
“No.”
“But we can stop the people who made him believe silence was his only way to protect you.”
Mark looked away.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph arrived.
Major Ellis.
Alive.
Sitting in a chair.
Holding that day’s newspaper.
Beneath it:
STOP DIGGING OR THE NEXT COFFIN WON’T BE EMPTY.
Mark showed Rebecca.
Her blood ran cold.
This was no longer history.
May you like
Someone had Major Ellis.
And they knew exactly where Mark was.
