The following morning came too soon, with rays of pale winter sunlight creeping through the blinds. Daniel had barely slept, his mind restless with questions and possibilities. He sat at his desk nursing a cup of lukewarm coffee, staring at the names on his laptop screen, Robert Langley, Maria, Peter.

The silence of the room was oppressive, the kind that made him feel as though he wasn’t truly alone. He found himself glancing at the mirror, half-expecting one of them to return, but it remained an ordinary pane of glass reflecting his disheveled appearance.

He sighed and turned his focus back to his work. If Robert’s story was to be the first thread he unraveled, then he needed to start somewhere... 'tangible'. The articles he’d found were scant and cryptic, but they had mentioned Robert’s family. Caroline and Lily Langley. The idea of contacting them felt intrusive, even reckless, but it also felt necessary.

After another hour of digging, Daniel found a current address for Caroline Langley in a small town a few hours away. What surprised him is that, she’d remarried, her name now Caroline Hayes. There were no mentions of Lily, at least none he could find publicly. Had she changed her name too? Or was there another, more tragic reason for her absence from the records?

The thought unsettled him, but he pushed it aside. He couldn’t assume the worst...Not yet.

Daniel grabbed his coat and stuffed his notebook into a worn leather bag. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to say to Caroline, but he knew he had to see her. Even if she slammed the door in his face, even if she didn’t believe him, he owed it to Robert to try.

---

The drive was long and uneventful, the barren winter landscape stretching endlessly around him. He used the time to rehearse different ways of approaching the conversation, but none of them felt right.

“Hi, I’m Daniel Cross. Your dead husband spoke to me through a mirror and asked me to uncover the truth about his death.”

....Yeah, that wouldn’t work.

When he finally pulled into the quiet suburban neighborhood where Caroline lived, the sun was already dipping below the horizon, casting long shadows across the streets. Her house was modest, with a neatly trimmed yard and a single wreath hanging on the door. It was the kind of home that radiated normalcy, a stark contrast to the chaos roiling in Daniel’s mind.

He sat in his car for a few minutes, gathering his nerve. His breath fogged up the windshield as he exhaled slowly, his fingers tapping anxiously on the steering wheel. Finally, he stepped out, his boots crunching against the frozen ground as he approached the door.

He knocked lightly, his heart pounding in his chest. For a moment, he thought no one would answer, but then the door creaked open to reveal a woman in her late forties. Her hair was streaked with gray, her face lined with the kind of weariness that comes from carrying too much for too long.

“Yes?” she said, her tone cautious but not unkind.

“Caroline Hayes?” he asked.

Her brow furrowed slightly. “Yes. Who might you be?”

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“Pardon for the Inconvenience. My name is Daniel Cross,” he said, his voice trembling despite his best efforts. “I—I umm...need to talk to you about Mr. Robert.”

Her expression hardened immediately. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I have nothing to say about him. Please leave.”

She began to close the door, but Daniel reached out, stopping it just enough to keep the conversation alive.

“Please,” he said, his voice desperate. “I know this sounds insane, but I believe Robert’s death wasn’t what they told you. He needs your help. I need your help.”

Caroline froze, her grip tightening on the edge of the door. For a long moment, she stared at him, her eyes searching his face for some hint of deceit or madness. Finally, she sighed and stepped back.

“You have five minutes,” she said, gesturing for him to come inside.

---

The interior of the house was as unassuming as the exterior was, comfortable and clean, with family photos lining the walls. Daniel couldn’t help but glance at them as Caroline led him into the living room.

One picture caught his eye: a younger Robert in uniform, standing proudly beside a smiling Caroline and a little girl with pigtails. Assumed to be Lily. The sight of it sent a pang through his chest.

Caroline sat down on the couch, her arms crossed defensively. “All right. Start talking.”

Daniel hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal. “I’ve been researching Robert’s case,” he began cautiously. “The official story doesn’t add up. I think… I think there’s more to what happened to him.”

Her eyes narrowed. “And why would you care? What’s your angle?”

“I don’t have an angle,” he said. “I just want the truth. For him. For you. For Lily.”

At the mention of her daughter, Caroline’s expression softened, though her guard didn’t lower entirely. “Lily...our little sweetheart... she's gone,” she said quietly. “She died five years ago. Cancer.”

The words hit Daniel like a blow to the chest. He hadn’t expected that. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.

Caroline nodded, her gaze distant. “She always believed her father was a hero. It was the only thing that kept her going after he disappeared. I couldn’t take that away from her, even when I started to suspect the truth myself.”

“What truth?” Daniel asked, leaning forward.

Caroline hesitated, as if weighing whether or not to trust him. Finally, she said, “I think Robert was set up. He was outspoken..too outspoken about some of the things he saw during his deployments. He wanted to go public, to expose some of the operations he thought were unethical. And then he was sent on that mission, and… well, you know the rest.”

Daniel’s stomach churned. It was exactly the kind of betrayal Robert had hinted at, but hearing it confirmed made it all the more chilling.

“Do you know who might have been involved?” he asked.

Caroline shook her head. “No. But I do know one thing....whatever happened to Robert, it wasn’t an accident. Someone wanted him gone.”

Her voice trembled with anger and grief, and Daniel felt the weight of her words settle heavily on his shoulders.

“I’m going to find out the truth,” he said quietly. “For him. For you. For Lily.”

Caroline looked at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I hope you do,” she said. “Because he deserves better than what they gave him.”

As Daniel left her house, the cold night air biting at his skin, he knew this was only the beginning. The dead had given him their stories, and now it was up to him to make sure they were finally heard.

(To be Continued)