The Truth About Reyes
2032 Words
The gun was steady in Reyes's hand.
Xander stared at her, his heart pounding, his mind racing. He was unarmed, exhausted, and trapped on a boat in the middle of the sea. Hawthorn was below deck, Anya was asleep in the cabin, and the fisherman was at the helm, pretending not to notice.
"Reyes," Xander said slowly. "What are you doing?"
"I need to know the truth." Her voice was cold, controlled. "You've been lying to me, Cross. You found something in that compound. Something you're not telling me."
"I told you everything."
"No. You told me what you wanted me to know." Reyes's finger tightened on the trigger. "Thorne gave you something. A data stick. But there was more, wasn't there? He told you something else. Something about me."
Xander's blood went cold. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb." Reyes stepped closer, the gun inches from his face. "I've been chasing Prometheus for three years. I've lost everything—my career, my friends, my family. And now I find out that the man I trusted most in the world was working for them the whole time."
"Thorne wasn't working for them."
"He was. I found the files. Messages, encrypted communications, payments. He sold out the Ghost Protocol to Prometheus years ago. He was the one who gave them the information they needed to capture your men."
Xander stared at her. The words hit him like physical blows. Thorne, the man who had helped him, the man who had given him the data stick, was a traitor.
"You're lying," Xander said.
"I wish I was." Reyes's voice was hollow. "I trusted him. I believed in him. And he used me, just like he used everyone else."
The boat rocked, the waves crashing against the hull. Xander could hear Hawthorn moving below deck, could sense his friend's readiness.
"Put the gun down," Xander said. "We can talk about this."
"There's nothing to talk about. Thorne is dead, and he took the truth with him. The only thing I have left is destroying the Ghost Protocol. And if you're going to stand in my way, I'll put a bullet in your head and do it myself."
Xander met her eyes. There was pain there, and rage, and a desperate need for something she couldn't name.
"I'm not standing in your way," he said. "I want to destroy the Ghost Protocol as much as you do. But killing me isn't going to help."
"How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"Because I've got nothing to lose. My men are dead. My life is over. The only thing I care about is stopping Webb." Xander's voice was hard. "If you want to kill me, go ahead. But if you do, you'll never get to the data base. You'll never destroy the Ghost Protocol. You'll be alone, and Webb will win."
Reyes stared at him, her hand trembling. The gun wavered.
And then Hawthorn was there, moving fast, his arm wrapping around Reyes's throat. He wrenched the gun from her hand and threw her to the deck.
"Nice try," Hawthorn said. "But we're not done with you yet."
Reyes lay on the deck, gasping. Xander moved to her, crouching down.
"You're going to tell us everything," he said. "Every secret you've been hiding. Every lie you've told. And then we're going to figure out how to stop Webb."
Reyes glared at him. "Or what? You'll kill me?"
"Worse. We'll leave you here." Xander's voice was cold. "This boat is heading to a fishing village on the coast. You'll be stranded, alone, with no way to get to Webb. And you'll spend the rest of your life knowing you failed."
Reyes was silent for a long moment. Then her shoulders slumped.
"Fine," she said. "You win."
---
They moved below deck, away from the cold wind and the fisherman's ears. Reyes sat on a crate, her face pale, her eyes hollow. Hawthorn stood guard, his weapon ready. Anya was awake now, watching from the corner.
"Three years ago," Reyes began, "I was a journalist. I had a reputation for exposing corruption in the military industrial complex. I thought I was making a difference."
"What happened?" Anya asked.
"I got too close. I started investigating a private military contractor called Prometheus. I found evidence of illegal experiments, human rights violations, cover-ups. I thought I was going to expose them, bring them down."
Reyes's voice was bitter. "Instead, they destroyed me. They planted evidence that I was a spy, that I was working for foreign governments. My career was ruined. My friends abandoned me. I was on the run, alone, with nothing but the truth."
"The truth about what?"
"The Ghost Protocol. It was being developed by a man named Simon Webb, with the help of his father, General Elias Vance. They were using soldiers as test subjects, erasing their memories, turning them into puppets. I had proof. I had files, recordings, testimony."
"Then why didn't you expose them?" Xander asked.
"Because they were too powerful. Prometheus had connections everywhere—in the military, in the government, in the media. Any evidence I had would have been buried. I would have been killed, and no one would ever know the truth."
"So you went underground."
"I started working with Thorne. He was the only person I trusted. He'd been a scientist on the project, but he'd turned against it. He wanted to destroy it, just like I did. We worked together for years, building a case, gathering evidence."
"But he betrayed you."
Reyes's face twisted. "He was working for Prometheus the whole time. He was feeding them information, leading them to my safehouses, my contacts. He was using me to find the people who could destroy the Ghost Protocol—people like you."
Xander felt a cold sickness in his stomach. "The message. The one you sent me. That was his idea?"
"Yes. He knew about your unit. He knew what happened in Karakum. He knew you were the only survivor. He wanted to use you to find the other survivors, to find the people who could expose the truth."
"And what was his plan?"
"I don't know." Reyes's voice was hollow. "He died before he could tell me. But I know one thing: he wasn't trying to destroy the Ghost Protocol. He was trying to protect it. He was trying to make sure no one could ever stop it."
Xander stared at her. Everything he thought he knew was crumbling. Thorne, the man who had helped him, the man who had given him the data stick, was a traitor. The fail-safe was a lie. The data base in Virginia was a trap.
"Then we're lost," Anya said. "Everything we've done, everything we've fought for—it was all for nothing."
"No." Xander's voice was hard. "We're not lost. We still have the data stick. We still have a chance."
"A chance to do what?" Hawthorn asked. "If Thorne was working for Prometheus, then everything on that data stick is compromised. It's a trap. Webb wants us to go to Virginia. He wants us to walk into his hands."
"Maybe." Xander's eyes were cold. "Or maybe Thorne was playing both sides. Maybe he gave us the data stick knowing it would lead to the truth."
Reyes looked up. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I don't trust anyone. Not you. Not Thorne. Not even myself." Xander's voice was quiet. "But I know one thing: the Ghost Protocol needs to be destroyed. And I'm going to destroy it, no matter what it takes."
---
They reached the mainland at dawn.
The fishing village was small, isolated, a cluster of buildings on the rocky coast. Xander found a truck that would take them to the nearest town, where they could catch a train to the capital.
The journey was long, exhausting. Xander didn't sleep. He couldn't. His mind was churning, trying to make sense of everything Reyes had told him.
Thorne was a traitor. The fail-safe was a trap. The data base in Virginia was a setup.
But there was still a chance. A chance to find the truth, to stop Webb, to save his men.
He just had to figure out how.
Anya sat beside him, her hand finding his. "You're thinking too much."
"I'm trying to figure out our next move."
"Then stop thinking and start feeling." Anya's voice was soft. "What does your gut tell you?"
Xander was silent for a long moment. "My gut tells me that Thorne wasn't working for Prometheus. He was working for himself. He had his own agenda, his own plan. And he gave us the data stick because he wanted us to find something."
"Find what?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find it."
---
They reached the capital at night.
Xander found a cheap hotel, a place where no one would ask questions. He booked two rooms, one for himself and Hawthorn, one for Reyes and Anya.
"We leave at dawn," he said. "We need to get to Virginia as fast as possible."
"What's the plan?" Hawthorn asked.
"We go to Fort Belvoir. We find the data base. And we destroy it."
"It's a trap."
"Maybe. But it's the only lead we have."
Hawthorn nodded. "Then we walk into the trap and hope we're smart enough to get out."
---
Xander couldn't sleep.
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, his mind racing. The events of the past few weeks had been a blur—the ambush, the escape, the compound, the betrayal. He'd been running on adrenaline, pushing himself past his limits.
But now the adrenaline was fading, and he was left with the cold, hard truth.
He was alone. He had no allies, no plan, no hope. Just a data stick and a dream.
And then he heard the knock on his door.
He opened it, expecting Reyes or Hawthorn. Instead, he found Anya.
"I can't sleep," she said. "Can I come in?"
Xander stepped aside, letting her enter.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her face pale. "I've been thinking. About Thorne. About what he did."
"And?"
"I think he was trying to protect me. He knew what I was going to find if I kept digging. He knew I was going to find the truth about the Ghost Protocol. He was trying to keep me safe."
"By betraying you?"
"By making sure I didn't get too close." Anya's voice was quiet. "He knew I would try to destroy the Ghost Protocol. He knew I would get myself killed. So he gave me the data stick, hoping I would use it to find the truth."
Xander looked at her. "You really believe that?"
"I have to believe it." Her eyes were bright with unshed tears. "If I don't believe it, then everything I've done, everything I've sacrificed, was for nothing."
Xander moved to her, sitting beside her. "It wasn't for nothing."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'm still here." His voice was soft. "Because you're still here. Because we're still fighting."
Anya looked at him, her eyes searching. "Why do you keep fighting? You've lost everything. Your friends, your family, your life. Why don't you just give up?"
Xander was silent for a long moment. "Because I made a promise. To my men. To myself. I promised I would find the truth. I promised I would stop Webb. I can't break that promise."
Anya was silent. Then she leaned against him, her head on his shoulder.
"I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm so scared."
"Me too." Xander put his arm around her. "But we're going to get through this. Together."
---
They sat in the darkness, the weight of their fears and hopes pressing down on them.
Outside, the city was waking up, the sounds of traffic and people filling the air.
Inside, the silence was absolute.
And in the silence, Xander made a decision.
He was going to trust Anya. He was going to trust himself. And he was going to find a way to destroy the Ghost Protocol, no matter what it took.
He just had to figure out how.
- Writer
