Chapter 4 - The Shadow of ApexThe silence in the superintendent's office was broken only by the steady ticking of a grandfather clock in the corner.
Callahan looked out the window. Down on the parade grounds, the last of the families were dispersing toward the parking lots. Somewhere out there was a young woman in dress whites, holding her newly minted commission, entirely unaware that her father was sitting thirty yards away, returned from the dead.
“Why today, Michael?” Callahan asked, turning back to Carter. “Why break twenty-four years of silence now? If they find out you’re here—”
“They already know,” Carter interrupted flatly.
Callahan froze.
“Vance died three months ago in a car crash in Zurich,” Carter explained, gesturing to the notebook. “When he died, the dead-man switch on his private servers triggered. The old files from Operation Black Current started moving. The men who funded Apex twenty-four years ago haven't retired, Richard. They’ve moved up. They’re sitting in executive boardrooms, defense committees, and flag-level commands.”
Carter unrolled the rubber band from the notebook and opened it to a marked page.
“Three days ago, two men showed up at my boatyard in Palawan. I barely made it out the back door. They aren't trying to keep a twenty-four-year-old secret anymore. They’re executing a final cleanup of anyone who ever touched the Black Current files.”
Callahan’s instincts, honed by four decades of naval service, snapped into high gear. “If they tracked you to Palawan, they knew you’d come here. They knew about Sarah.”
“That’s why I came to you,” Carter said, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper. “Not to ask for my life back. My life ended in that passageway in 2002. I came to save my daughter.”
Before Callahan could reply, a soft chime rang out from the secure terminal on his desk.
Callahan stepped over and pressed the receiver to his ear. “Callahan.”
“Sir, it’s Miller at the outer desk,” his aide’s voice came through, sounding strangely constrained. “I have two officials here from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. They’re accompanied by a representative from the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. They state they have an urgent, high-priority security hold regarding an unauthorized civilian on the grounds.”
Callahan looked up at Carter. Carter met his gaze without a hint of surprise.
“Tell them to stand by, Miller,” Callahan said smoothly into the phone.
“Sir... they’re insisting,” Miller replied, a faint edge of tension in his tone. “The representative from Defense Intelligence... it’s Mr. Sterling’s office.”
Callahan’s chest went cold. Sterling.
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Twenty-four years ago, Arthur Sterling had been the Vice President of Defense Procurement for Apex Maritime Dynamics. Today, he was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict.
“Give me two minutes, Miller,” Callahan said, and hung up the receiver.
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