"Did it work?"
Ryan laughed.
"For about four seconds."
Thomas smiled.
Ryan became serious again.
"Can you help us?"
"With the building?"
"With whatever you know."
Thomas looked toward the library.
He realized Ryan didn't know anything about Vale.
Nobody here did.
This wasn't their war.
Maybe that mattered.
Maybe that was exactly why he couldn't leave them in it.
The next morning, Thomas called Calvin.
"I'll look at the files."
Calvin didn't celebrate.
"Okay."
"But nobody touches my family."
"Agreed."
"And we're not operators anymore."
Calvin almost laughed.
"No."
"No weapons."
"Fine."
"No games."
"Tom—"
"I'm serious."
Calvin paused.
"Then what are we?"
Thomas looked out his window.
"Old men with paperwork."
That became the plan.
And strangely, paperwork was what finally broke open a secret people had spent decades hiding.
Nathan contacted a military legal organization.
Calvin assembled copies of declassified logistics records.
Thomas reviewed mission documents he'd spent half his life refusing to think about.
The memories came back in fragments.
Call signs.
Fuel calculations.
Coordinates.
A handwritten change to their insertion route.
Thomas remembered questioning it.
Vale had personally approved the change.
At the time, Thomas thought the order had come from updated intelligence.
The signature block told another story.
More importantly, a serial number on one supply manifest linked equipment found at the North Lantern site to a private contractor later acquired by one of Vale's companies.
It wasn't proof of betrayal.
But it was enough to ask questions.
Nathan knew a federal investigator who could ask them properly.
Thomas refused to go public.
"Not until somebody with authority verifies it."
Calvin agreed.
Then Vale made a mistake.
He came to Harbor Point.
It happened on a Tuesday afternoon.
Thomas had stopped by to help Daniel move old equipment from a storage closet.
A black SUV pulled into the parking lot.
Two men in suits stepped out.
Then Andrew Vale.
Seventy-three.
Silver hair.
Straight posture.
Still carrying himself like people should move when he entered.
Thomas watched him through the glass.
For twenty-seven years, Vale had existed in memory as a voice over secure radio.
Seeing him in person felt almost disappointing.
He looked human.
Vale entered.
Daniel approached.
"Can I help you?"
"Andrew Vale."
He offered his hand.
Daniel didn't take it.
"I know who you are."
Vale smiled politely.
"I'm here regarding the property transition."
"We still have three months."
"I'm aware."
Then he saw Thomas.
Everything stopped.
Vale's expression barely moved.
But Thomas recognized fear.
Not much.
Enough.
"Commander Hail."
Daniel looked between them.
Thomas walked forward.
"General."
Vale smiled.
"I heard about your recent celebrity."
Thomas didn't respond.
Vale looked around the gym.
"Small world."
"Sometimes."
Vale's eyes stayed on him.
"We should talk."