Chapter 14: The Airfield
Grant pulled Violet from the car.
Her hospital gown was hidden beneath a long coat. One hand was cuffed to his wrist.
Harper moved toward her.
Grant raised his pistol.
“Stay where you are.”
My daughter looked exhausted but conscious.
Voss smiled.
“Now we can conduct business.”
“You already lost,” I said. “The files were released.”
“Files can disappear.”
“They were sent to federal prosecutors, three journalists, and every family you targeted.”
For the first time, Voss’s confidence faltered.
Daniel looked at him.
“You said the evidence was contained.”
Voss ignored him.
“The watch, Mason.”
I removed the repaired watch from my pocket.
It contained no memory card.
Harper had brought it from Violet’s desk for the operation.
Voss extended his hand.
As I approached, Violet looked at me.
Then her eyes moved toward Grant’s injured knee.
A warning.
I threw the watch past Voss.
His attention shifted.
Violet drove her heel into Grant’s knee.
He stumbled.
Harper lunged forward and pulled Violet away.
Grant fired.
Daniel stepped between them.
The bullet struck him in the chest.
Federal agents stormed the hangar.
Grant tried to reach the car, but Naomi tackled him beside the landing gear.
Voss ran toward the jet.
I followed.
He climbed the stairs and reached for the cabin door.
I caught him by the back of his coat and dragged him onto the tarmac.
He swung a metal flashlight toward my head.
I blocked it and forced him facedown against the concrete.
For one savage second, I wanted to finish what he had started fifteen years ago.
I thought about the dead soldiers.
The destroyed families.
Violet bleeding in our hallway.
Then I heard my daughter’s voice.
“Dad.”
One word.
That was enough.
I released Voss and allowed the agents to handcuff him.
Daniel lay beneath the hangar lights.
Harper pressed both hands against his wound.
He looked at Violet.
“I’m sorry.”
Violet did not forgive him.
But she held his hand until the paramedics arrived.
Voss was placed inside a federal vehicle.
Before the door closed, he looked at me and laughed.
“You still do not understand, Mason.”
“What?”
“I did not discover the memory card.”
His eyes moved toward Violet.
“She contacted me first.”
Violet’s face went pale.
May you like
Voss smiled.
“Ask your daughter what she offered me.”
