Chapter 10 - The Man Who Saluted First
Briggs had served beside Nicole in two combat zones. He had carried wounded soldiers through fire and once disobeyed her order to save a trapped medic. She trusted him with the kind of trust built from fear survived together.
Now he stood in her office admitting theft.
"Why would Brooks order you to take it?" Nicole asked.
"He said the file was forged and that keeping it in your possession would destroy you."
"When?"
"An hour after the daycare alarm."
"How did he contact you?"
Briggs showed her a secure message authenticated with Brooks's command certificate.
Nicole called the general directly.
Brooks answered from County Mercy, where Evelyn remained under guard.
"I sent no order to Briggs."
The certificate was genuine.
Someone had access to Brooks's highest-level credentials.
Robert's warning returned to Nicole: Do not trust the first man who salutes you.
Brooks had been the first man to salute her at the diner.
But warnings could be designed to poison trust as easily as protect it.
Nicole ordered Briggs into temporary protective custody, not arrest. He handed over the file voluntarily and disclosed every communication. The forensic team traced the false order to a terminal inside the general officers' secure wing.
Only seven people had access.
One was General Brooks.
Another was his wife, Dr. Elaine Brooks, a senior civilian adviser who held a special systems credential for emergency continuity planning.
Robert had said Brooks was being watched by someone he loved.
Nicole called Ortiz. "Find Elaine Brooks."
She was not at home.
Her vehicle appeared on a traffic camera heading toward the abandoned rail depot where Voss planned the exchange.
The operation moved up.
At 1:30 a.m., Nicole traveled to the depot with Travis in an armored van. Ortiz commanded a concealed federal team. Brooks insisted on joining but Nicole ordered him to remain at Fort Resolute under security review.
"You are relieving me?" he asked.
"I am limiting risk."
"You think Elaine is involved."
"I think someone used her access."
Brooks's face revealed pain before discipline covered it.
"Bring her back alive."
"That depends on her choices."
The rail depot stretched across twelve abandoned tracks and three warehouses. Rain shone on the steel. Travis wore a tracking device beneath his shirt and the red leather jacket over body armor.
"You enjoy this?" he asked Nicole as they approached the exchange point.
"No."
"You look calm."
"Calm is not enjoyment."
"What is it?"
"A decision not to give you control of my face."
They reached Warehouse Two.
Senator Abigail Voss waited beneath a row of hanging industrial lights. She wore a dark coat and no expression. Beside her stood Elaine Brooks with a pistol aimed at Robert's back.
Robert's hands were tied.
Travis stopped.
Voss studied him as though measuring a purchase.
"You wore the jacket," she said.
"You left me with Wade Cain."
"I kept you alive."
"He beat me."
"He made you strong."
Travis's face twisted.
Nicole saw the moment he decided to abandon the plan.
He drew a hidden knife and lunged toward Voss.
Elaine fired.
Robert moved into the shot. The bullet struck his side.
Federal agents flooded the warehouse. Gunfire flashed from the catwalks as Voss's security team opened fire. Nicole dragged Robert behind a steel column while Ortiz pursued Voss toward the rear exit.
Elaine dropped her weapon and fell to her knees.
"They have my grandson," she cried. "They took him three months ago. Every order, every password. I had to."
Brooks and Elaine had never publicly mentioned a grandson. Their daughter lived overseas and believed the child was at a private boarding program.
The Ledger had built another cage.
Travis disappeared during the firefight.
So did Voss.
Ortiz found a blood trail leading to the river but no body.
Robert survived emergency surgery. Before anesthesia took him, he gripped Nicole's hand.
"Voss is not the Custodian," he whispered.
Nicole leaned closer.
"Harper was wrong?"
"Harper was given a name to give you. Abigail is the shield."
"Then who is it?"
Robert's eyes closed.
May you like
His final words were barely audible.
"The Custodian was in the diner."
