Chapter 6 - AN EMPTY COFFINAvery remembered the funeral.
Rain against black umbrellas.
Her mother clutching a folded flag.
An empty coffin because officials claimed Thomas Mitchell’s body could not be recovered.
Now Avery discovered the truth.
Her father had uncovered Black Meridian while auditing weapons transfers.
He disappeared because compromised officials controlled the very channels he should have used to expose them.
His death had been staged to protect his family.
A location appeared inside the file.
Outer Banks.
A decommissioned Coast Guard station.
Despite Avery’s injuries, she insisted on going.
Hayes joined her.
Vance joined her.
Unexpectedly, Briggs did too.
Near midnight, they reached the station.
An elderly man stepped beneath the porch light.
Gray beard.
Limp.
Familiar eyes.
“Dad?”
Thomas Mitchell stared at his daughter.
“Avery.”
She ran into his arms.
For six years she had imagined speaking to a grave.
Now she could feel his heartbeat.
“You let us bury you.”
“To keep you alive.”
Avery wanted to forgive him.
She wanted to hate him.
Before she could decide, a red laser dot appeared on Thomas’s chest.
Hayes screamed.
May you like
“DOWN!”
The porch light exploded.
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