Everyone froze.
The helicopter hovered only yards above the beach, sending sand flying in every direction.
A woman leaned out from the open door.
She looked directly at me.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I’m your mother!”
The words hit harder than the helicopter’s roar.
Vanessa gasped.
My father turned pale.
“Shut it down!” he yelled.
The Defense official immediately raised his hand.
“No one fires.”
The woman held up an old photograph.
It showed a little girl standing between two smiling parents.
That little girl was me.
The official slowly lowered his tablet.
“Colonel Reed,” he said quietly, “you told everyone she died during Project Horizon.”
My father’s voice cracked.
“I had no choice.”
The official stared at him.
“You erased her identity.”
The woman screamed from the helicopter.
“They stole our daughter!”
Every guest stood speechless.
Vanessa stumbled backward.
“You lied to all of us…”
My father looked at me with tears in his eyes.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Before I could answer…
The official’s earpiece crackled.
His face instantly changed.
He looked toward the sky.
“Oh no…”
Everyone followed his gaze.
Three more black helicopters were racing toward the beach.
The official whispered only four words.
“They found Subject R-12.”
