Chapter 5 - The First Layer
The voice on the phone belonged to a man who called himself 'The Architect',
a name that felt too grand for the small,
warm kitchen of my son’s house.
He told me to look deeper into the velvet lining of the box.
I pulled at the fabric,
and it gave way,
revealing a hidden compartment stuffed with documents.
These weren't deeds for land or titles for vehicles.
They were transcripts,
bank account numbers,
and maps with hand-drawn markings in red ink.
"He wasn't just a farmer,"
The Architect said through the satellite phone.
"He was a Deep-Cover Asset for a specialized intelligence wing."
"He was the man they called when things went so wrong they didn't exist anymore."
I sat back down,
my legs failing me.
"But he was here,"
I argued,
gesturing to the air.
"He plowed the fields,
he fixed the fences,
he went to church on Sundays."
"The farm was the perfect cover,"
the voice explained.
"Nobody looks for a world-class operative in a cornfield in Iowa."
"He chose that life because he fell in love with you,
Sarah."
"He was supposed to be there for six months on an assignment."
"He stayed for forty-one years."
I looked at Daniel,
who was reading through the transcripts with a grim expression.
"He was monitoring something,
Mom,"
Daniel said,
his voice thick with realization.
"Look at these maps."
"The farm sits right on top of a major communication node."
"He wasn't just farming corn;
he was guarding the backbone of the national grid."
I reached for a small,
leather-bound notebook at the bottom of the pile.
I recognized Richard’s handwriting immediately,
that slanted,
graceful script I had seen on every birthday card he ever gave me.
The first page was dated the day after our wedding.
*I promised to love her,
and I promised to protect her,*
it read.
But the greatest protection I can give her is a normal life.
She must never know what I do in the hours when the sun is down.
She must never know the names I carry or the blood on my hands.
I felt a sob break through my chest,
a mixture of love and betrayal that felt like it would tear me apart.
Every time he went out to "check the fences" in the middle of the night,
every time he took a long walk to "clear his head,"
May you like
he was working.
He was being the Eagle.
