Chapter 4 - The Man With Her Phone
Mara stepped out slowly, keeping both hands visible.
The first man approached.
“Colonel Harrison, we are conducting a national security inquiry.”
“Which agency?”
He displayed the badge again.
This time, Mara saw it clearly.
Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
The badge looked authentic.
The behavior did not.
“Name and field office.”
“Special Investigator Aaron Pike.”
The man with Mara’s official phone stopped near the front of the car.
“We need the prepaid device,” Pike said.
Mara looked at the phone in his hand.
“That device was secured inside Fort Bellamy.”
“It was surrendered during the review.”
“I did not surrender it to you.”
Pike’s expression tightened.
“Colonel, cooperation will make this easier.”
“For whom?”
“We have evidence that classified financial information was transferred to a civilian computer registered to your daughter.”
Mara felt the trap closing.
They intended to accuse Nadia of theft and Mara of providing access.
“Show me the evidence.”
“You will see it during formal questioning.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not at this time.”
“Then move your vehicles.”
Pike stepped closer.
“We also know your daughter is suffering from a psychiatric emergency.”
“My daughter is being held without legal authority.”
“That is not your concern right now.”
Mara stared at him.
“You made a mistake.”
Pike almost smiled.
“Which one?”
“You repeated the hospital’s diagnosis before interviewing me.”
The man beside him shifted.
Pike’s smile vanished.
Mara continued.
“You are not investigating the hospital. You are protecting it.”
The prepaid phone rang inside Mara’s pocket.
Every man in the garage looked toward the sound.
Pike held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Mara removed the phone but did not surrender it.
She pressed the answer button and activated the speaker.
“Colonel,” Captain Cho said, “I found the ambulance.”
Pike lunged.
Mara threw the phone beneath the parked car beside her.
As Pike bent to reach it, she struck his forearm aside, moved behind him, and used his momentum to drive him against the hood. The second man grabbed her shoulder. Mara twisted free and shoved him backward.
She did not attempt to fight all three.
She only needed an opening.
Mara ran toward the stairwell.
The man holding her official phone moved to block her. Before he reached her, the stairwell door opened from the other side.
Major Trent stepped through with two uniformed base security officers.
“Step away from the colonel,” Trent ordered.
Pike straightened.
“This is a federal investigation.”
“Then you can explain it at Fort Bellamy.”
Trent held up a document.
“General Rowe never authorized Colonel Harrison’s reassignment. His signature was copied from a closed procurement order.”
Pike glanced toward his men.
The uniformed officers raised their hands toward their sidearms.
“No one moves,” Trent said.
Mara retrieved the prepaid phone.
Captain Cho was still connected.
“I heard enough to request backup,” he said.
“Tell me about the ambulance.”
“It was registered under Vale Health Services, but the vehicle was leased to Novaris Defense six months ago.”
Mara looked at Pike.
“Caleb Mercer.”
Pike said nothing.
Trent took Mara’s official phone from the third man.
“It has been wiped,” he said.
Mara expected that.
“What about General Rowe?”
“Missing. He left Fort Bellamy after receiving a message from someone inside St. Catherine.”
“Did the message identify the sender?”
“No, but surveillance shows him entering a vehicle owned by Vale Health Services.”
Mara’s mind moved through the facts.
Nadia had found suspicious payments involving Novaris and St. Catherine. She had told Caleb Mercer. Hours later, a vehicle connected to both organizations had taken her to the hospital.
Then General Rowe had disappeared in another vehicle owned by the same company.
“Place these men in temporary custody,” Mara told Trent.
Pike laughed.
“You have no authority. Your credentials were suspended.”
Trent handed Mara her badge.
“Not anymore.”
Mara clipped it to her belt.
Pike’s face hardened.
“You have no idea what you are walking into.”
“Then explain it.”
“If you enter that hospital, your daughter will never trust you again.”
For the first time, Mara’s control nearly broke.
“What did you do to her?”
Pike did not answer.
His gaze moved toward the prepaid phone.
Mara followed it.
A new message had appeared.
It contained a photograph of Nadia sitting alone in a windowless room.
May you like
Beneath the photograph were six words.
COME ALONE OR SHE SIGNS EVERYTHING.
