The Woman in the Trees
1385 Words
James felt eyes on him.
He turned. The porch was empty. The yard was empty. The forest was dark.
But someone was watching.
He walked inside, locked the door.
Evelyn looked up from the couch. "What's wrong?"
"Someone's out there."
"I'll wake David."
"No. Let them come."
---
The knock came at midnight.
James opened the door.
A woman stood on the porch. Young, mid-twenties, dark hair, sharp eyes. She wore black tactical gear.
"James Cole. I've heard so much about you."
"Who are you?"
"Someone who wants the same thing you do. Justice."
"Justice for whom?"
"For the victims of the Parallax Protocol. Including my mother."
The woman stepped inside.
"My name is Kara. Kara Morrison. James Morrison was my uncle."
James's blood ran cold. "Morrison had a niece?"
"He had a brother. My father. He was killed by the Network when he tried to expose them."
"Why are you here?"
"Because I know where the last fragment of Morrison's research is hidden. And I need your help to destroy it."
---
Kara sat at the kitchen table.
James, Evelyn, David, and Harper gathered around.
"Morrison was paranoid," Kara said. "He didn't trust anyone. Not even his own daughter. So he hid fragments of his research in different locations around the world."
"We've destroyed most of them."
"Not all. The final fragment is in a facility in Siberia. Hidden beneath a lake. Frozen. Inaccessible."
"How do you know this?"
"Because my father told me before he died. He was Morrison's brother. He knew all of Morrison's secrets."
"Why didn't you come forward sooner?"
"Because I was afraid. The Network killed my father. They would have killed me too."
"Why now?"
"Because the Network is gone. And because I want my father's death to mean something."
---
James studied her.
She looked like Morrison. Same eyes. Same jaw.
"Where in Siberia?"
"The coordinates are in my phone. But the facility is guarded. Morrison's loyalists have been hiding there for years."
"How many?"
"Dozens. Maybe more."
"We've faced worse odds."
Kara nodded. "I know. That's why I came to you."
---
The flight to Siberia was long and cold.
James, David, Harper, and Kara traveled under false names. Evelyn stayed behind with the children.
The facility was hidden beneath a frozen lake, accessible only through a submerged tunnel.
"How do we get in?" David asked.
"Scuba gear," Kara said. "The tunnel is flooded. But it's short. Maybe fifty meters."
James suited up.
The water was near freezing. His body screamed.
He swam through the darkness, following Kara's light.
The tunnel opened into an air pocket. A cave.
They emerged, shivering.
---
The cave led to a steel door.
Kara typed a code. The door opened.
Inside, the facility was small. A single room. A single computer.
And guards.
Dozens of them.
"Morrison's loyalists," Kara whispered.
James raised his rifle.
The guards raised theirs.
"Stand down," a voice said.
A man stepped forward. Older. Gray hair. A scar on his cheek.
"Kara. I knew you'd come."
"Uncle. I knew you'd be here."
The man was Morrison's other brother. The one who had stayed loyal.
"You're working with the enemy."
"I'm working with the people who want to end this nightmare."
"This is family business."
"Family business killed my father."
The man's expression flickered.
"Then we have nothing to talk about."
He raised his hand.
The guards raised their weapons.
---
James fired first.
The guards scattered.
David and Harper provided cover.
Kara ran for the computer.
The old man chased her.
James intercepted.
They struggled. The old man was stronger than he looked.
"You don't understand," the old man gasped. "Morrison's research could save millions."
"It's killed millions."
"The technology isn't evil. It's how you use it."
"And you used it to e*****e people."
The old man's grip weakened.
James pinned him.
"It's over."
The old man's eyes glazed over. Poison. Same as the others.
---
Kara reached the computer.
"The files are here. The final fragment."
"Destroy it."
She typed.
The screen went dark.
"It's done."
James stood up. "Let's go."
---
They swam back through the tunnel.
The facility behind them collapsed.
The frozen lake swallowed it.
James watched from the shore.
"Is that the last of them?" David asked.
"I hope so."
"Hope isn't a plan."
"Then we'll make a plan."
---
They flew home.
The ranch was quiet.
Evelyn was waiting.
"Did you get it?"
"It's gone. All of it."
"Then it's really over."
James held her.
"I think it is."
---
Weeks passed.
No threats. No messages. No attacks.
James began to believe.
Then the dreams returned.
Not nightmares. Memories.
A woman's face. Familiar. Wrong.
He woke up with a name on his lips.
"Kara."
Evelyn stirred. "What?"
"Nothing. Go back to sleep."
But James couldn't sleep.
He walked to the window.
Kara was standing in the yard, looking up at him.
She smiled.
Then she vanished.
---
The next morning, Kara was gone.
Her cabin was empty. Her belongings were gone. No note.
Steven tracked her phone. "She's heading east. Toward Washington, D.C."
"Why D.C. again?"
"Maybe she's looking for Morrison's old contacts. Or maybe she's lying about destroying the files."
James packed his bag.
"I'm going after her."
"Alone?"
"Alone. She trusts me."
"Kara trusts no one."
"Then I'll earn her trust."
---
The drive to D.C. was long.
James tracked Kara to a hotel in Georgetown.
She was waiting in the lobby.
"James. I knew you'd come."
"Where are the files?"
"Safe."
"You said you destroyed them."
"I lied."
"Why?"
"Because Morrison's research is too important to destroy. It can cure Alzheimer's. PTSD. Memory loss."
"Or it can create slaves."
"It's not the technology. It's the people who use it."
James stepped closer.
"Give me the files."
"Or what? You'll kill me?"
"I'll arrest you."
Kara laughed. "You have no authority."
"I have the truth."
"The truth is flexible."
Kara walked toward the exit.
"Come with me, James. I want to show you something."
---
She led him to a laboratory in Arlington.
Hidden. Underground.
Inside, a woman lay on a table, connected to monitors.
"My mother," Kara said. "She has Alzheimer's. She doesn't remember who I am."
"I'm sorry."
"Morrison's research could cure her. Restore her memories. Give her back her life."
"At what cost?"
"No cost. She's a volunteer. She wants this."
Kara walked to the monitors.
"I'm not like my uncle. I don't want power. I don't want control. I just want to help people."
"Then do it legally. Through the proper channels."
"The proper channels take years. My mother doesn't have years."
James looked at the woman on the table. Her eyes were open, but empty.
"What would she want?"
"To remember. To know that her daughter loves her."
"Then help her. But not with Morrison's research. It's tainted."
Kara's eyes filled with tears.
"You don't understand."
"I understand more than you think."
---
James sat beside her.
"I lost my father to the protocol. Not directly. But his memories were erased. He killed himself because he couldn't live with the emptiness."
"I'm sorry."
"Morrison's research doesn't cure. It controls. It always has."
Kara was silent.
"Maybe you're right."
"I am right."
She wiped her eyes.
"Then help me find another way. A better way."
James nodded. "Together."
---
They spent the next year developing a new treatment.
Safe. Legal. Ethical.
Kara's mother was the first patient.
The treatment worked. Her memories returned. Slowly. Gently.
She looked at Kara with recognition.
"Sweetheart. I remember."
Kara wept.
James watched from the doorway.
"It worked," Evelyn said, beside him.
"It worked."
"You did a good thing."
"We did a good thing."
---
The ranch was quiet again.
The children grew. Rebecca started walking. Chloe started reading.
James worked the land. Fixed fences. Raised animals.
A simple life.
The life he had always wanted.
One night, he sat on the porch with Evelyn.
"Are you happy?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Really."
She leaned against him.
"So am I."
---
His phone didn't buzz.
No messages. No threats.
Just peace.
"Evelyn."
"Yes?"
"Let's go inside. It's getting cold."
They walked into the warm light of the ranch house.
The door closed behind them.
---
In the darkness outside, no one watched.
The shadows were empty.
The war was over.
- Writer
