Chapter 9 - everyone had a version of the truth
Major Sloan examined the photograph without touching it.
The image showed her standing beside Rusk in the parking area of a roadside diner. A date and time had been printed across the bottom.
Eleven days earlier.
“You met him,” Elias said.
“Yes.”
“You told me he was presumed dead.”
“He was presumed dead until he contacted our office.”
“When were you planning to mention that?”
“When we had enough information to understand why he resurfaced.”
Elias felt anger rise behind his ribs.
“You spoke to the man who entered my property, threatened my family, and used my identity.”
“I met a confidential source who claimed your credentials had been compromised.”
“You knew his name.”
“I knew the name he provided.”
“You recognized him.”
Sloan looked toward the officers searching the hidden compartment.
“Not immediately.”
“That photograph was taken eleven days ago.”
“He looked different from the archived records.”
“But now you’re certain.”
“Now I’ve seen him in the basement footage.”
Elias stepped closer.
“What did he tell you?”
“That someone inside Fort Garrison was diverting equipment through the Vale Foundation.”
“And you let the transfers continue?”
“To identify the full network.”
“My daughter was part of the network?”
“No.”
“She was thrown outside because your operation needed more evidence.”
“That happened before we could intervene.”
“You had a van across the street.”
“We believed moving too early would cause Rusk to disappear.”
“He did disappear.”
Sloan’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Elias held her gaze.
“Claire left a note telling me not to trust you.”
For the first time, Sloan appeared genuinely surprised.
“What else did she write?”
“That is all you need to know.”
“Colonel, Claire may have been manipulated into protecting the real organizer.”
“You mean you?”
Mercer entered the basement before Sloan could answer.
“We found Ruth.”
“Where?” Elias asked.
“Two streets away. She was hiding in a delivery truck. Vanessa is still missing.”
“Claire?”
“No confirmation.”
Mercer looked from Elias to Sloan.
“What happened?”
Elias pointed toward the photograph.
Mercer studied it.
“Sloan met Rusk?”
“Apparently.”
Sloan did not defend herself.
Instead, she removed her secure phone and placed it on top of one of the military cases.
“I am willing to submit to an immediate internal review.”
“That sounds prepared,” Mercer said.
“I knew this possibility existed.”
“Because you knew someone photographed you?”
“Because Rusk warned me the Vale network would attempt to discredit everyone investigating it.”
Elias looked around the basement.
“What exactly is Raven Six?”
Sloan remained silent.
Mercer glanced at her.
“You might want to answer him.”
“It was a military communications operation eight years ago,” Sloan said. “Colonel Grant led the field unit.”
“I know the mission I led,” Elias replied. “I don’t know why everyone is using its call sign like a threat.”
“The official mission and the actual mission were different.”
Elias’s expression hardened.
“Explain.”
“Your unit believed you were recovering stolen satellite components. In reality, the operation was designed to identify an intelligence leak inside the command structure.”
“We were bait.”
“Yes.”
“Who authorized it?”
“That information remains classified.”
“Three soldiers disappeared.”
“I know.”
“One of them was my brother.”
The basement became silent.
Major Sloan looked at Elias with something close to regret.
Captain Adrian Grant had been part of Raven Six.
His vehicle vanished during the operation. No wreckage, body, or confirmed remains were ever recovered. The military eventually declared him dead.
Elias had spent years wondering whether a different order could have saved him.
Sloan lowered her voice.
“Adrian discovered the leak before the rest of the unit.”
“What leak?”
“Operational schedules were being sold through a private logistics network. He tried to deliver proof to command.”
“Did he?”
“We never received it.”
Elias thought of the sealed letter.
Open only if Owen Rusk returns.
“Who wrote the letter in my safe?”
Sloan’s eyes narrowed.
“What letter?”
“An intelligence officer named Marcus Hale gave it to me after the mission. He died two months later.”
“I need to see it.”
“It’s missing.”
“Then Rusk has it.”
“Unless Claire does.”
Mercer’s radio sounded.
An officer reported that Ruth Vale was ready to cooperate in exchange for legal consideration.
Mercer looked at Elias.
“She says Claire was taken in the gray sedan.”
“By Rusk?”
“She won’t give a name until we guarantee protection.”
Sloan picked up her phone.
“No promises. We hear the information first.”
Mercer did not move.
“This is my investigation.”
“This involves military property and national security.”
“It also involves kidnapping.”
Sloan’s tone sharpened.
“Captain, if you interfere with a classified recovery operation—”
Mercer stepped closer.
“A ten-year-old was locked outside in a storm while you watched the house. Do not explain priorities to me.”
Elias moved between them.
“Enough.”
He looked at Mercer.
“Take me to Ruth.”
Then he turned to Sloan.
“You are not coming.”
Sloan’s face became unreadable.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Possibly.”
Elias walked toward the stairs.
Behind him, Sloan spoke quietly.
“Ask Ruth who gave Marlene the first authorization code.”
Elias stopped.
He looked back.
Sloan continued.
“It was not Claire.”
May you like
“Who was it?”
“That is what you need to ask.”
