Chapter 6 - The General Who Sent Me
I watched Sarah's warning three times, each replay making a different memory feel contaminated.
Rusk had attended her funeral.
He'd placed a hand on my shoulder and promised to protect Lily if anything happened to me.
A year later he had offered me the undercover assignment, telling me the work could prevent failures that cost soldiers their lives.
I had mistaken access for trust.
Torres chose an independent federal investigative team to receive the evidence.
The process would be slow, and nobody could guarantee secrecy.
We documented each transfer so Rusk's lawyers could not later claim the card had appeared from nowhere.
"We can't arrest a general on a grieving husband's instincts," Torres warned.
"I don't need instincts. I need records."
"And witnesses who stay alive long enough to testify."
Our first witness was Renee.
At a different medical center, specialists confirmed that her illness was serious and that the suspicious bottle required independent pharmacy review.
They also stressed that aplastic anemia has established medical causes and could not simply be attributed to a handful of questionable pills.
I appreciated their caution.
A dramatic theory was not evidence.
Renee was furious when I visited. "I trusted Claudia with every intimate detail of my life."
"That's what made her useful to whoever recruited her."
"Do you think she made me sick?"
"We don't know. We know the medication needs testing and your treatment needs independent oversight."
She looked away. "I let her choose who entered my hospital room."
"She counted on that."
I showed her a copy of the transfer schedule, withholding sensitive material until investigators authorized disclosure. Renee recognized a subsidiary code immediately. "Northlight. Victor told me it handled sterile packaging. It has no business touching military communication components."
"Do the board members know?"
"Not all of them. But the ones who do have been pushing to replace me."
She reached for the contract she'd offered me. "You never signed."
"I couldn't."
"Because you're not an electrician?"
I met her eyes. She had already assembled most of the truth. "Because I couldn't accept money for a role that would compromise an investigation."
"Army?"
I did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Renee gave a humorless smile. "So we both made the same mistake. We thought the other person had nothing to hide."
"I never wanted to hurt you."
"Intentions aren't the same as trust, Daniel."
She had every right to say it.
Her attorney, Marisol Vega, entered carrying a court petition.
Victor's allies had applied for an emergency order limiting Renee's management authority, claiming she was being exploited by an unidentified man who had infiltrated her home.
A photograph of me beside her wheelchair appeared as an exhibit.
Beneath it was a declaration signed by Claudia Vale.
I skimmed the accusations until one sentence stopped me.
Claudia claimed I'd introduced myself to Renee using a false identity and threatened to steal classified company files.
A detail on the final page was worse.
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The affidavit had been notarized the day before Renee called me at 2:07 a.m.
