Page 116 of Silent Target

24

EVIE

My father.

The words strike harder than the gunfire.

I stare at the speaker hidden in the ceiling.

“What did you say?”

Soft laughter echoes through the bunker.

“Daniel Hart was an honorable man. Honor made him predictable.”

My father’s death was ruled a heart attack.

He collapsed at his desk when I was twenty-six.

There was no investigation.

No reason for one.

Until now.

“What did you do to him?”

The voice ignores me.

“Caleb’s father was equally stubborn. He refused an invitation few men would have possessed the courage to decline.”

Caleb moves closer until his shoulder touches mine.

The contact steadies me.

The voice knows it.

“I wondered whether their children would inherit that same unfortunate loyalty.”

Rook raises his weapon toward the camera.

“If you have something to say, come out here.”

“No. I learned long ago never to underestimate soldiers.”

Caleb’s expression becomes lethal.

“You aren’t the Chairman.”

A pause follows.

The first uncertainty we’ve heard.

Then the man answers.

“No?”

“The Chairman wouldn’t waste time talking to us.”