PART 4 — PROJECT NIGHTFALL

The name stared back at me.

AVA STERLING.

I read it again.

Then again.

“No.”

The investigator didn’t respond.

I stepped closer.

“Why is my name on this?”

General Hayes looked at the document.

“Because someone planned for you to be involved.”

“But I never heard of Project Nightfall.”

“You weren’t supposed to.”

I looked toward Blackwell.

His expression had changed completely.

He wasn’t angry anymore.

He looked defeated.

I walked toward him.

“Tell me what Nightfall was.”

He shook his head.

“I can’t.”

“You can.”

“No.”

I stopped inches from him.

“My brother is alive because of this.”

Blackwell looked away.

I lowered my voice.

“If you know where he is, tell me.”

His eyes met mine.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

Then he whispered:

“Your brother wasn’t captured.”

My heart stopped.

“What?”

“He volunteered.”

“For what?”

Blackwell looked at General Hayes.

Hayes nodded.

Blackwell continued.

“Daniel discovered that someone inside the military was selling operational intelligence.”

“To whom?”

“We don’t know.”

“That’s a lie.”

Blackwell’s jaw tightened.

“We knew enough to understand the threat.”

“And Nightfall?”

“Was created to find the source.”

I looked at the photograph of the six Marines.

“They weren’t missing.”

“No.”

“They were undercover.”

“Yes.”

“And Daniel?”

Blackwell swallowed.

“He was the first one inside.”

I felt my chest tighten.

“Inside what?”

Blackwell didn’t answer.

The investigator suddenly interrupted.

“General.”

Everyone turned.

He was staring at a laptop.

“We have an incoming transmission.”

“From where?”

He looked at the screen.

“An encrypted military channel.”

“Can you trace it?”

“Not yet.”

The speakers crackled.

Static.

Then a voice.

A voice I hadn’t heard in eight years.

My knees nearly gave out.

“Hello, Ava.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“Daniel?”

The entire parade ground seemed to disappear.

His voice came again.

Older.

Rougher.

But unmistakable.

“You shouldn’t have come looking for us.”

Tears filled my eyes.

“Where are you?”

Silence.

Then:

“Not where they told you.”

I looked at Blackwell.

He closed his eyes.

Daniel continued.

“Blackwell doesn’t know everything.”

The admiral opened his eyes.

“What?”

A pause.

Then my brother said:

“But there’s one person who does.”

The transmission distorted.

I stepped toward the speaker.

“Daniel!”

His voice returned for only a few seconds.

“Ava, listen to me.”

“Who?”

“Don’t trust anyone wearing your uniform.”

The signal began breaking apart.

“Daniel!”

His final words came through in fragments.

“Your mission…”

Static.

“…wasn’t to find us.”

The screen went black.

Then one final message appeared.

PROJECT NIGHTFALL: PHASE TWO ACTIVATED.

Nobody moved.

I looked at General Hayes.

“What does Phase Two mean?”

He didn’t answer.

The investigator slowly turned the laptop toward us.

A new file had appeared.

It contained a photograph taken that morning.

Not overseas.

Not inside a secret facility.

Right there.

At Camp Pendleton.

The photograph showed six figures standing near the far end of the parade ground.

Six Marines.

All wearing civilian clothes.

All alive.

And standing behind them…

was my brother Daniel.

I stared at the screen.

Then I noticed the timestamp.

Photograph taken eleven minutes ago.

My brother was here.

He had been watching the entire ceremony.

And suddenly I understood why Admiral Blackwell had looked afraid from the moment he saw the photograph.

This wasn’t an investigation anymore.

It was an operation.

And whatever Project Nightfall had been hiding for eight years…

was finally coming out of the shadows.