Chapter 2 - THE SHADOW OF ALDRIDGE STREET
The heavy armored SUV moved silently through the city, isolated from the noise of the afternoon traffic. I sat on the leather back seat, clutching a juice box Captain Ross had given me, while General Graves stared out the window, his jaw clenched tight.
"General," I asked softly, breaking the long silence. "Did you know my mom a long time ago?"
Nathaniel turned to look at me, his eyes softening. "I did, Ruby. Twelve years ago, your mother was one of the brilliant military logistics researchers in the country. We worked together. We... were engaged to be married."
My breath caught in my throat. "Engaged?"
"Yes," he said, a distant look in his eyes. "And then, one night, a explosion destroyed her research facility in Virginia. I was deployed overseas at the time. When I rushed back, military intelligence handed me a burnt badge, a DNA report, and a death certificate. They told me she was gone."
"Why would someone say that?"
"Because your mother had found something she wasn't supposed to see," Graves said, his tone turning cold as iron. "And whoever wanted that secret buried made sure she disappeared."
Twenty minutes later, the armored SUV pulled up outside my dilapidated apartment building on Aldridge Street. The paint was peeling off the exterior walls, and the streetlights were flickering despite the daylight.
General Graves stepped out of the vehicle, flanked by two plainclothes security guards. We walked up the squeaky, narrow stairs to Apartment 4B. My heart was pounding.
I used my spare key to unlock the door. "Mom? I'm home!"
Inside the tiny kitchen, a woman in a faded apron turned around. She looked tired, dark circles lingering under her soft green eyes. "Ruby? Where have you been? I was so worried—"
She froze. The ceramic bowl she was holding slipped from her fingers and shattered onto the linoleum floor.
Standing in the doorway, blocking the dim hallway light, was General Nathaniel Graves.
"Nathaniel...?" my mother whispered, her voice barely audible. She backed away until her spine hit the kitchen counter, her face turning pale. "No... no, this isn't real..."
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"Elena," Nathaniel said, stepping into the room. His voice broke as he took in her appearance—the worn clothes, the small, cold apartment, the fear in her eyes. "It's me. I swear to God, it's me."
"Get out!" my mother suddenly screamed, grabbing a kitchen knife from the counter and pointing it at him, her body shaking violently. "Get out of here! How did you find us? Did Sterling send you to finish it?!"
