Chapter 10 - General Rourke
Lieutenant General Marcus Rourke arrived at Grant Strategic Holdings before the medical team removed Daniel Mercer from the garage.
He wore civilian clothes and carried no visible security detail.
Evelyn met him in the executive conference room.
Rourke had known her since childhood. He served beside her father and later became one of her mentors at the military academy. He recommended her for sensitive assignments and supported her promotions when others questioned whether she advanced too quickly.
He had also been one of the few people who understood the full purpose of Gray Ledger.
Evelyn placed Mercer’s note on the table.
Rourke read it without visible surprise.
“You believe this refers to me?”
“It uses your name.”
“That does not answer my question.”
“Did you know Daniel Mercer?”
“I met him twice.”
“Did you contact him?”
“No.”
“Did you attempt to access the evidence archive using Major Cole’s credentials?”
Rourke’s gaze moved to Cole.
“No.”
“Who else had access to your authorization certificates?”
“My administrative team.”
“We will need their names.”
“You may have them.”
His cooperation was immediate.
Too immediate, Evelyn thought.
Rourke examined the documents recovered from Unit 417. When he saw the letter from Evelyn’s grandfather, his expression changed slightly.
“You recognize the handwriting?” Evelyn asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you know he worked with Margaret?”
“I knew he suspected Charles Vale of financial crimes. I did not know the daughter was involved.”
“The letter says the missing evidence was placed with someone he trusted.”
Rourke leaned back.
“Your grandfather trusted very few people.”
“Were you one of them?”
“For a time.”
The answer carried weight.
Rourke explained that Evelyn’s grandfather had investigated an informal network of contractors, bankers, attorneys, and government officials known internally as the Meridian Circle.
The group did not operate like a traditional criminal organization. It had no central headquarters and no official leader. Members protected one another through favors, hidden accounts, manipulated appointments, and shared secrets.
Asterion Meridian was not simply a shell company.
It was a signal that the network remained active.
“Why was this never destroyed?” Cole asked.
“Because destroying a system like Meridian requires proving it exists,” Rourke replied. “Every investigation reached one layer and stopped. Witnesses withdrew. Evidence disappeared. Prosecutors were reassigned.”
“Or investigators were compromised,” Evelyn said.
Rourke met her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Was my grandfather compromised?”
“No.”
“Were you?”
The room became silent.
Rourke removed a small envelope from his coat.
“I expected that question eventually.”
Inside was a photograph of Rourke, Evelyn’s grandfather, Charles Vale, and three unknown men standing outside a private airfield in 1998.
On the back, someone had written: Six entered. Four remained loyal.
“Loyal to whom?” Evelyn asked.
“I never learned.”
“Where did you get this?”
“Your grandfather sent it to me three days before he died.”
“Why didn’t you show me?”
“Because one of the men in the photograph was your father.”
Evelyn looked again.
The younger man near the edge of the photograph had been partly hidden by shadow.
But it was him.
Colonel Samuel Grant.
Her father had officially died in a training accident when Evelyn was twelve.
Rourke placed another document beside the photograph.
May you like
It was a recent border-entry record.
A man using Samuel Grant’s fingerprints had entered the United States eleven days earlier.
