Page 288 of Broken Oath

Decorated uniform.

Rows of ribbons.

Combat badges.

A familiar face.

Sarah’s father swore softly.

My stomach tightened.

I recognized him too.

The dead commander from the photograph we recovered.

The man escorting prisoners beside Marcus Lane.

The man who had supposedly died six years ago.

Fathom enlarged the name.

COLONEL JONATHAN REEVES

STATUS: KILLED IN ACTION

The room went silent.

Fathom opened another file.

Then another.

Medical authorizations.

Transportation orders.

Classified expense accounts.

Years of records hidden beneath false identification numbers.

The same man appearing over and over.

Not dead.

Active.

Protected.

Working.

“His death was staged,” Fathom said. “The official record lists a helicopter crash during an operation in Afghanistan. No body was recovered.”

“Because there wasn’t a body,” Falcon said.

Fathom pulled up a financial authorization.

“Reeves has been running Black Site Theta under a compartmentalized identity. His orders were approved through an intelligence program overseen by Director Alan Madow.”

Sarah stepped closer.