Chapter 3 - THE WATCH SHE NEVER WANTED ME TO SEE
Mom didn't ask why the school was full of people.
She didn't ask why Principal Harris looked nervous.
She didn't ask why Mr. Reynolds was standing several feet away with his face lowered.
She looked only at the silver watch.
“William,” she whispered.
Carter held it out.
“I kept my promise.”
Mom didn't take it.
Instead, she looked at me.
“Lucas, go wait outside.”
“No.”
The word came out before I could stop it.
Mom blinked.
“I heard what you said.”
“Lucas.”
“You told him to keep a promise.”
She looked down.
I had never seen my mother look afraid before.
Not scared of something happening to her.
Afraid of something I might learn.
Carter stepped in.
“Rachel, he deserves the truth.”
She closed her eyes.
Then she nodded.
“Okay.”
We moved into Principal Harris's office.
Mr. Reynolds wasn't invited.
Neither was anyone else.
Mom sat beside me.
Carter placed the watch on the desk.
“This belonged to your grandfather,” Mom said.
I stared.
“My grandfather?”
“He was an Air Force pilot.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn't want you growing up thinking you had to become something because of our family.”
Carter shook his head.
“That wasn't the reason.”
Mom looked at him.
“I know.”
I picked up the watch.
There were tiny initials engraved on the back.
R.M.
“Why did you give it to him?”
Mom took a breath.
“Because I thought I was going to die.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
Carter explained.
“During a training exercise, my aircraft suffered a catastrophic systems failure.”
“What kind?”
“Electrical failure first. Then navigation.”
Mom continued.
“I was flying nearby.”
“You saved him?”
“I found his aircraft.”
Carter nodded.
“She stayed with me when she could have returned to base.”
“How?”
“Her aircraft had enough fuel to leave.”
Mom looked down.
“But she didn't.”
Carter's voice softened.
“She guided me through a storm.”
He tapped the watch.
“This stopped at 14:17.”
“What happened at 14:17?”
“My aircraft lost its remaining power.”
I looked at Mom.
“What did you do?”
She smiled faintly.
“What I was trained to do.”
“You flew beside him.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Twenty-three minutes.”
Carter looked at me.
“Long enough for me to reach a safe altitude and restart the system.”
I stared at the photograph.
“You really flew an F-22.”
Mom smiled.
“Yes.”
For the first time, I felt something inside me unclench.
Then Carter said something that changed everything.
“But that's not why your mother stopped flying.”
Mom's smile disappeared.
I looked at her.
“Why?”
She shook her head.
“Because of what happened afterward.”
Carter opened a thin folder.
Inside was an old photograph.
It showed Mom beside another pilot.
A man I didn't recognize.
On the back were three words.
MISSION SILVER SIX.
“Who is he?”
Mom's voice was barely audible.
“Captain Daniel Hayes.”
“What happened to him?”
Carter looked at Mom.
She answered.
“He died.”
“How?”
“He crashed.”
Carter shook his head.
“No.”
Mom closed her eyes.
“He didn't crash.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
Carter said, “His aircraft was deliberately disabled.”
Silence filled the room.
“By who?”
“We never proved it.”
I looked at Mom.
“Then why did you leave?”
She stared at the photograph.
“Because Daniel was my wingman.”
My chest tightened.
“You blamed yourself.”
“Yes.”
Carter shook his head.
“She wasn't responsible.”
Mom looked at him.
“William.”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“Rachel, we're done protecting the wrong people.”
I looked between them.
“What people?”
Neither answered.
Then Carter placed another object on the desk.
A folded piece of paper.
The edges were burned.
I recognized Mom's handwriting.
She had written:
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO ME, DO NOT LET LUCAS BELIEVE THE OFFICIAL STORY.
I stared.
“Mom?”
She covered her face.
I reached for her hand.
“What official story?”
She finally looked at me.
“That your father died in an accident.”
My entire body went cold.
“My father?”
Carter nodded.
“Lucas, your father was the second pilot on that mission.”
I couldn't breathe.
I had grown up believing my father had died before I was born.
A simple accident.
A story Mom had repeated my entire life.
But now she was crying.
And Carter was holding a photograph of three pilots.
Mom.
Daniel Hayes.
And my father.
May you like
Then Carter said:
“Your father wasn't supposed to be on that flight.”
