Page 221 of Silent Target

“That was his choice. Not yours.”

Mac looks back at the mountain.

“I can live differently.”

“Yes.”

His eyes return to mine.

“You believe that?”

“I do.”

He nods slowly.

It isn’t forgiveness.

It’s a beginning.

Across the cabin, Evie opens the reinforced evidence case.

Fathom nearly launches out of his seat.

“Please tell me you aren’t reorganizing my drives.”

She blinks at him. “I’m checking the journal.”

“Oh.”

His shoulders relax.

“I thought you were touching my filing system.”

Falcon laughs. “I’ve seen him less protective of his rifle.”

“I have priorities,” Fathom says.

Evie sits beside me and opens the Chairman’s journal across her knees.

A folded sheet slips from the back cover.

She catches it before it reaches the floor.

“What did you find?” I ask.

She unfolds an old hand-drawn map.

Several locations are circled in black ink. One circle—the West Virginia bunker—is crossed out.

Another mark appears along the South Carolina coast.

Beneath it, Charles Whitmore wrote two words.

ARCHIVE SEVEN.

Mac leans closer. “I’ve never seen that.”

“You’re certain?” Rook asks.