Chapter 3 - The Order to Stay Away
Inside the envelope was a temporary reassignment order.
Effective immediately, Colonel Mara Harrison was to remain at Fort Bellamy for an additional fourteen days while her division underwent an internal security review.
The order had General Rowe’s digital signature.
Mara read it twice.
Her deputy, Major Lucas Trent, approached from behind.
“Colonel, General Rowe wants all personal devices surrendered until the review is complete.”
Mara folded the order and placed it inside her jacket.
“Why?”
“Possible compromise of financial intelligence.”
“Who reported the compromise?”
“I wasn’t told.”
“Where is General Rowe?”
“He left the facility.”
“Without speaking to me?”
Major Trent hesitated.
“He said the order was clear.”
Mara studied him. Trent had served beneath her for four years. He was disciplined, dependable, and terrible at hiding discomfort.
“What are you not telling me?”
His eyes shifted toward the surveillance camera in the ceiling.
Mara understood.
“Walk with me.”
They moved into the adjoining equipment room, where the noise of cooling systems covered their conversation.
Trent kept his voice low.
“Two investigators entered your office twenty minutes ago.”
“From which agency?”
“They didn’t identify themselves.”
“What did they take?”
“Your procurement records.”
“Anything else?”
“Your personnel file and the audit request involving the emergency infrastructure fund.”
Mara’s suspicion became certainty.
The reassignment order was not about national security.
It was about stopping her from reaching Nadia.
“Did you see General Rowe sign this order?”
“No.”
“Did you speak to him directly?”
“No.”
“Then until I hear his voice, I will treat the order as potentially compromised.”
Trent stared at her.
“That could be considered insubordination.”
“My daughter was detained using falsified medical documents after discovering money missing from an account controlled by this division.”
Trent’s expression changed.
“How much?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“What do you need?”
“A secure route home and someone I can trust inside the military police.”
Trent glanced toward the door.
“Captain Daniel Cho is stationed thirty miles from St. Catherine. He worked with us during the Ormond fraud case.”
“Contact him through a nonmilitary channel.”
Trent nodded.
Mara removed her identification badge and placed it on a metal shelf.
“If anyone asks, I surrendered my credentials.”
“Colonel, how are you leaving the base?”
“Through the same route the investigators used to enter without signing the log.”
Trent almost smiled.
Then his expression became serious again.
“One more thing. The review team asked whether you had discussed classified accounts with Nadia.”
“I have never discussed protected information with her.”
“They already knew her name.”
Mara felt a chill that had nothing to do with the cold air of the equipment room.
She left through a maintenance corridor and crossed to an auxiliary vehicle lot. Trent had arranged for a civilian car belonging to a trusted communications officer.
Before Mara entered it, Trent handed her a basic prepaid phone.
“Captain Cho will call this number.”
“Thank you.”
“Bring her home.”
Mara drove out of Fort Bellamy without her uniform jacket, official phone, or access card.
Forty minutes later, the prepaid phone rang.
“Colonel Harrison?” Captain Cho asked.
“This line is not secure. Confirm only what you can.”
“I checked the hospital admissions system. Nadia Harrison is listed under behavioral observation.”
“Was she transferred by court order?”
“No court order appears in the state database.”
“Did she sign voluntary admission forms?”
“The signature was verified electronically.”
“Nadia does not use electronic signatures for medical documents.”
“There’s more. Her record says she arrived alone.”
“She arrived by ambulance.”
“I contacted emergency dispatch. No ambulance transport exists under her name.”
Mara tightened her hands on the steering wheel.
“Then how did she get there?”
“The hospital’s security system shows a private medical vehicle entering through the east garage at 6:18 p.m.”
“Who owns it?”
“Vale Health Services.”
Vivienne Vale.
“Can you get me inside?”
“Not without a warrant.”
“Then get me proof sufficient for one.”
Cho was silent for a moment.
“My access request has already been flagged.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know. But someone called my commander before I finished searching.”
Mara checked the rearview mirror.
A black sedan had been following her for twelve miles.
“Captain, disconnect now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m being watched.”
She turned off the main highway and entered a crowded commercial district. The sedan followed.
Mara made three deliberate turns. It remained behind her.
She entered the lower level of a parking structure and accelerated toward the far exit. As she rounded a concrete pillar, another vehicle pulled across the lane, blocking her path.
Two men stepped out.
Neither wore a uniform.
Mara reversed, but the black sedan stopped behind her.
One of the men raised a badge too quickly for her to read.
“Colonel Harrison,” he called. “Step out of the vehicle.”
Mara looked at the sealed envelope still resting beside her.
May you like
Then she saw the reflection of a third man approaching from the stairwell.
He was carrying her official phone.
