Page 151 of The Lazarus Protocol

“Can’t really get longitude and latitude coordinates wrong.”

“Unless you mix up numbers,” Caleb pointed out.

“This is what was on the paper Kyle gave me.” Noah led the way as they set off, walking the deer trail that looked to be almost a mile long across a rolling hill to the cabin.

Caleb glanced over. “I can’t believe they’ve all been working for Mom and Dad all these years.” He shook his head. “I’m gonna need some time with that one.”

“Adam. Ash. You and I didn’t know Kyle before, but now that we do, I’ll be tracking the guy down on a regular basis and checking in.” Noah had plenty of questions to ask, but for now he had a solid overview. “Mom and Dad saved lives. They protected us, and they made sure they were still alive for us to find.”

Noah had been puzzling it all out at the ranch and stumbled on Pops alone in the barn. They’d finally had a long-overdue conversation about what the old man knew about his son and daughter-in-law, Caleb and Noah’s parents. While Pops knew next to nothing about the Phoenix Network—he’d never even heard the name—the old guy knew that their parents never would have stayed away for so long if they’d thought they could safely come home.

The rest of the info, he’d garnered from Adam and Ash. “The Phoenix Network is all about old-school spy craft. They keep their heads down and protect each other. It’s kind of brilliant actually, and it’s saved some people I respect a whole lot.”

“And they created the whole organization?”

“As far as I know, it’s their thing. Their life’s work.” Because they’d needed it first, and after that branched out and used the setup to save others. Guys like Adam who didn’t deserve what happened to them.

Noah wasn’t sure whether to be proud or allow the injustice of losing his parents for so long to swallow him up in bitterness. He knew which he wanted, but only time would tell on the rest.

Caleb said, “You gonna ask them to let you be part of it?”

“Division Zero is CIA. We might run into a conflict of interest no one wants to navigate, so I figure they’re not going to want to join forces. But we might need each other.”

“Not what this meeting is about, though. Right?”

Of course, Caleb knew that.

“We are gonna end up talking about work. It’s inevitable.” Or so Noah figured.

“But they’re our parents, and we haven’t seen them in fifteen years.” Caleb sounded nervous. “You think Mom still drinks that stinky tea?”

Noah laughed. “You think Dad still watches NASCAR on a Sunday afternoon?”

They shared a smile, and Noah spotted movement.

Up at the cabin, the front door opened wide. Behind her was the yellow glow of a warm light on a cloudy afternoon. Noah spotted a man in the window and knew it was his father. But the woman in the doorway captivated him. He didn’t remember her being that beautiful.

Caleb coughed but said nothing.

Noah wanted to smile at his brother’s nervousness, but the truth was, he felt the same way. He walked up to the front door first, leading the way. “Hey, Mom.”

FIFTY-TWO

Lyon, France

The building behind them was four stories tall and twice as wide. Built nearly four hundred years ago, it had been a hospital for most of its existence, a place where French lives ended and others began. Where the authority in charge of the nation never superseded the care a doctor provided their patient. But in wartime, that often wasn’t the case.

Steph watched a butterfly fly frantically from a bush, across the lawn where patients in wheelchairs visited with family members, or others were escorted around the grounds by staff in white scrubs.

The war might not be over, but this place had the potential to provide a semblance of peace nonetheless.

“You worry.” Her father reached over and patted her hand.

She looked at him, barely a shadow of the man she remembered. This man was free. At least for now. “The prognosis wasn’t what I hoped.”

“I’m an old man. Years of…” He shook his head. “Who would recover?”

“Dad, I’m sorry.”