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I meet Logan’s gaze as I wait for a response. He’s gone pale, and his eyes are wide as realization dawns on him.
I’m taking control of their mission.
“Loud and clear, TacCon. This is Ranger Three. We thought we lost you for a moment. Over.”
“Just double-checking some intel. Ranger Three, your strike package has been updated. Maxwell Sparr is confirmed on site. You have new mission parameters. Engage at these coordinates.” I hit enter, sending Maxwell’s location through, along with an order to launch the aircraft’s air-to-surface missiles when ready. “Stand by for authorization.” I open the updated clearance files, then relay the code I need. “Ranger Three, you are a go. Authorization: November—Alpha—Two—Two—Eight—Lima—Delta. Over.”
There are a few seconds while the pilot checks the code before he returns. “Roger that. We’re on our way. Time on target is eight mikes. Out.”
I glance at the clock to note the time. I need to hold it together for eight more minutes.
Punching some keys, I open the communication line to the outside room. Everyone is silent as they watch me carefully.
There really isn’t anything they can do now, and they know it.
Logan looks like he’s trying to formulate his best course of action. Jack is angry. But more than that, he looks devastated, and it crushes me to know I’ve let him down. I only hope in the end, he understands I had no choice.
Before I’m able to speak to either of them, I’m pulled away by the one voice I can’t wait to stop hearing.
“Jessa, what’s going on? Get Zane—Travis back on the screen right now,” Maxwell barks without a clue about what’s heading his way.
I punch a couple of keys, and the video comes back on. My brother’s image waits for Maxwell to speak, and I’m surprised no one has noticed yet.
“What’s going on, Travis? As soon as we accepted the transfer of the financial information, our systems began to shut down.”
No one has noticed how still my brother sits, how his expression hasn’t changed since the last time he was on the screen.
He doesn’t look real.
And that’s because he isn’t.
Turning to my laptop, I type out one more set of instructions. Then I hit enter, and my brother’s voice answers Maxwell’s question.
“I don’t think I’m the best person to answer that. You killed me. Remember?” Travis’s image responds without emotion.
Maxwell’s face pales at the accusation.
My programs are now eating through everything Maxwell has online and on his servers, and his team is about to tell him there is nothing he can do to stop it.
It’s time to answer everything.
“You’ll pay for this, Jessa. You and Travis,” Maxwell threatens, and now I’m done.
“NO! YOU DON’T SAY HIS NAME.” Spinning in my seat, I stand and clench my hands into fists at my sides as I continue, raising my voice with each word. “YOU KILLED MY BROTHER! YOU DON’T GET TO SAY HIS NAME.”
As I barely hold back my tears, the last ten years come flooding back.
I had planned on a different course of action at this moment. But those plans were made when I was thinking without feeling, and I failed to consider everything that could have possibly happened over the last week.
So now I don’t even know where I’m going with this, but, looking up at the combined shock and rage on Maxwell’s face, I know the only thing I have left is the truth.
“I’ve waited for years. Ten years. I watched you kill my family.”
“That was my dad, Jessa. I—” The first sign of panic cracks through Maxwell’s lies.
“Don’t. Don’t lie to me. I know you were carrying out your father’s orders. I saw your bright yellow Jeep parked on the bridge as their car went over the side. I saw it all. My brother never made it out. I hacked in and picked up the report of a body being found downstream a week after they died. I changed the age and gender in the report right away, so it would be overlooked, and then I had Travis’s remains transferred out of state for burial.”
I turn to the devastated looks on Jack and Dana’s faces, and my heart is almost too heavy to continue.
