Why let everyone think you were dead? Because the people who set that trap weren't done hunting. They wanted Alpha 6 gone for a reason. When I made it out, I started digging. Found out the betrayal went higher than we thought.
Officers, defense contractors, people with enough power to make me disappear if I came forward. She pulled a chair out and sat down heavily, like someone who'd been standing too long. So, I disappeared on my own terms. New identity, new life, stayed off the grid, and I watched. Watched what?
You. The others who survived. Making sure the people who killed our team didn't come back to finish the job. Harper, who'd been listening in silence with Declan pressed against her side, spoke up. What does any of this have to do with my son?
Hollis turned to look at her. Everything, Mrs. Morrison. Because the man your son saw murdered 3 weeks ago was investigating the same people who betrayed Alpha 6, and he was doing it because he recognized one of them. Who?
Creed demanded. Hollis reached into her coat, slowly, carefully, and pulled out a worn photograph. She laid it on the desk. It showed a man in a military uniform, full dress, medals on his chest, the insignia of a colonel. Creed recognized him immediately.
Colonel Thaddeus Brennan. The old man's father. The very same. He was the one who authorized our mission. He was also the one who made sure we walked into that trap.
20 years of black market weapons deals, selling equipment to whoever would pay, routing money through shell companies and offshore accounts. We were about to expose all of it. So, he buried us instead. Brennan's been dead for 15 years. But his son isn't.
And his son inherited more than just money. He inherited the network, the connections, the whole corrupt system his father built. Hollis tapped the photograph. Thaddeus Brennan Jr. Has been running the same schemes his father did.
Defense contracts, mining rights, anything where there's money and government oversight is light. The homeless man your son saw killed, his name was Emmett Maddox. The world stopped. Creed heard the words, but they didn't make sense. Couldn't make sense.
That's not possible, he said. His voice sounded distant, like it belonged to someone else. My brother Emmett died 15 years ago. Afghanistan. His unit was hit by an IED.
No. Hollis's voice was gentle now, sad. Your brother Emmett survived Afghanistan, barely. He came home with PTSD so severe he couldn't function. The VA failed him.
His family, your family, tried to help, but he disappeared. Went off the grid, became one of the invisible ones. The homeless veterans nobody wants to look at because they remind us of promises we broke. Harper's hand found Creed's arm, steadying him. He didn't remember sitting down, but he was in the chair now, staring at that photograph of Colonel Brennan like it held answers he couldn't quite reach.
How do you know this? He managed. Because I've been tracking the Brennans for 34 years. Watching, waiting for an opportunity to bring them down. 3 months ago, I found Emmett.
He was living rough out in the desert near the old mining sites. He didn't remember much, but he remembered you. Talked about his brother who rode Harleys and fixed engines, and always knew how to make things work right. Hollis paused. He also stumbled onto something he shouldn't have.
Old documents buried in one of the abandoned mine offices. Records from Colonel Brennan's time in the military. Evidence of the weapons deals, the money laundering, all of it. And they killed him for it. Vic Maloney and two others.
Caught him in the desert, beat him to death, made it look like random violence against a homeless man nobody would care about. Creed stood up. The chair fell backward, clattering on the concrete floor. Declan, what did you film? The boy looked up at him, eyes wide.
I was out riding my bike near the old mine. I heard shouting and I hid. I saw them, three men. They were hitting someone over and over. And when they stopped, the man wasn't moving anymore.
I didn't know who he was. I just knew it was wrong. So, I filmed it on my phone. Thought I'd give it to the sheriff. But they saw you.
Declan nodded. One of them looked up right as I was leaving. I ran, got home and tried to figure out what to do. Then a few days later, one of them, Vic, he came to the diner where my mom works. He knew.
I could see it in his eyes. He was watching me. So, I tried to delete the video, but it was too late. They already knew I'd seen. Harper pulled her son closer.
Why didn't you tell me? I was scared. I thought if I told you they'd hurt you, too. Hollis stood up, moving to the window that overlooked the garage bay. The video is gone.
Declan's phone was wiped clean before you found him. But that doesn't matter anymore. Because I have something better. She pulled out a small USB drive from another pocket. Everything Emmett found.
Everything Colonel Brennan did. Financial records, communications, names of everyone involved in the weapons deals. Enough to bring down not just the Brennans, but the entire network. Creed took the drive, turning it over in his hands. So small, so much weight.
Why didn't you take this to the authorities? Which authorities? Hollis's smile was bitter. The local sheriff who's outgunned and outmaneuvered? The district attorney who's on Brennan's payroll?