Chapter 14 - Betrayal in Uniform
Rusk arrived at the secure office wearing dress uniform, accompanied by two military legal officers.
He looked exactly as he had at Sarah's memorial: immaculate, restrained, convinced that calm authority would make everyone else seem unreasonable.
"Colonel Carter," he said, "your behavior has placed a sensitive operation at risk."
"Which part? The kidnapping of my daughter, or the forged evidence?"
His expression didn't change. "You're emotionally involved."
"I am. I'm also willing to let independent investigators examine every action I've taken. Are you?"
One of the lawyers shifted in his chair.
Rusk said I was being relieved from undercover duties pending a security inquiry.
That was within the authority of his office.
He could suspend access; he could not lawfully erase evidence in the custody of an independent investigative team.
I placed my credentials on the table and complied.
Refusing would hand him the scene he wanted.
"You'll turn over your personal materials," he added.
"Materials relevant to the operation will be handled through counsel and chain-of-custody procedures."
Rusk studied me. "You always were stubborn."
"Sarah used a different word."
His eyes hardened at her name.
After he left, Torres told me she'd been reassigned, too.
We were both temporarily outside the operation we'd spent months building.
The lowest part wasn't losing the mission.
It was telling Lily that the adults wearing the same uniform as me might disagree about whom to trust.
She listened with a solemn seriousness no child should need.
"Did Mom trust the wrong person?" she asked.
"Maybe."
"Did you?"
I looked at the floor. "Yes."
Lily leaned against me. "Then trust someone better."
Marisol brought news that federal investigators were independently examining the altered audio and the underlying corporate records.
The process was not dependent on my military assignment.
We still had lawful options, though they were slower and less dramatic than the conspirators' threats.
That evening Renee called from the hospital. "I heard they took your job."
"Temporary suspension."
"Because of me?"
"Because somebody wants the evidence to look personal instead of factual."
"Would you still have come that night if you knew all this would happen?"
I thought of her whispering that she didn't want to die alone. "Yes."
She breathed out. "I believe you."
A moment later her tone sharpened. "Daniel, I've found something in my father's estate files. A payment to an old veterans' charity Sarah supported. The authorization signature is yours."
"I never authorized that payment."
"I know. It was approved the week after her funeral."
She sent me the document.
My forged signature sat beneath a corporate transfer of nine million dollars.
Rusk had not merely sent me to investigate the money trail.
May you like
Someone had planted my name directly inside it.
