Chapter 5 - The File Marked COLONEL
The social worker helped Maya arrange a protected place to stay once the doctors discharged her.
The decision belonged to Maya, and she chose a temporary apartment connected to a local support organization.
I arranged leave through my command without describing details that were not mine to share.
I also spoke to military legal assistance about the limits of my role.
The answer was clear: my uniform gave me no power over a civilian investigation.
I intended to rely on evidence instead.
Maya told Ortiz about the file she had seen in Julian's private office.
Its cover bore my name and photographs from public military events.
There were copies of my schedules, interviews, and a map showing the roads between Fort Liberty and Charlotte.
"He told me he needed to know who might interfere with his marriage," Maya said.
Her voice grew bitter on the word interfere.
Ortiz asked whether Maya had permission to enter the office when she saw it.
Maya had once shared the office with Julian while preparing their taxes.
She described exactly what she had seen and refused to guess about the rest.
That precision impressed the detective.
Two days later, Julian's attorney delivered a letter alleging that Maya had stolen valuable property.
The letter demanded the return of a company access card, a necklace, and a brass key.
I placed it beside the envelope containing the key and felt the shape of the trap.
Julian wanted to make the key look like evidence against Maya rather than evidence of what she had survived.
He also wanted it back badly enough to name it in writing.
"Should we give it to them?" Maya asked.
"We should ask your attorney and the detective how to handle it," I said.
The advocate helped Maya find independent counsel, Rachel Chen.
Rachel read the demand twice.
"They've told us what they care about," she said.
"Now we need to understand why."
A call came in before she finished.
It was from a number Maya recognized immediately.
May you like
Rosa Delgado's seven o'clock number.
