Chapter 14 - The Betrayal Recorded Twice
The original gym footage was finally reviewed in connection with the civil dispute.
Nora showed me a legally obtained copy in her office.
There was the red timer.
There was Derek pressing something into his glove.
There was Claire watching from the counter.
And there, beneath the noise of the crowd, was Price telling Derek not to let me leave until I had signed.
The recording contained one detail Maya hadn't noticed.
After my signature, Claire looked down at her phone and said, “He did it.”
A man's voice answered through the speaker.
“Then find the drive before he comes back.”
It wasn't Derek.
It wasn't Price.
Rourke replayed the audio.
A deep voice with a faint rasp, careful pronunciation, and a pause before the word drive.
I'd heard that voice once, fifteen years earlier.
In an interview room after Aaron's death.
Victor Sloane.
Nora cautioned that voice recognition from a recording was not proof by itself.
But she forwarded it to the investigators.
That night, my company reinstated me pending the final outcome of its audit.
The diverted funds had been recovered, and the allegations against me were unsupported by the records reviewed so far.
My supervisor apologized.
I thanked him.
Then I sat in my truck and realized I didn't feel victorious.
I felt empty.
For years, the job had been proof that I could build a life outside the military.
Somebody had nearly torn that proof away with a forged email.
I called the VA counselor whose number had sat untouched in my wallet.
She made me an appointment.
I didn't tell her everything over the phone.
I simply said I wasn't sleeping and needed help.
Later, Claire sent one final personal message.
I never stopped loving you.
I stared at it.
Then I wrote back.
Love isn't an excuse for what you chose to do.
I sent it and turned the phone facedown.
Minutes later, Rourke called.
Investigators had identified a familiar figure in footage from the document vault.
The man retrieving a sealed case wasn't Sloane.
May you like
It was Owen Vale.
