Chapter 5 - The Funeral Before the Body
General Ward did not answer immediately.
That silence told Vivienne enough.
“The memorial is tomorrow,” he finally said. “Dominic pressured the command liaison. He claimed your family needed closure.”
“My family is dead.”
“I know.”
“Was I declared deceased?”
“No. Missing and presumed lost. The paperwork is incomplete.”
“Then why is there a coffin?”
Ward exhaled.
“Because your husband paid for one.”
The funeral had become a national event before the search operation was officially closed. Dominic contacted reporters, politicians, military charities, and former commanders. He described Vivienne as a warrior who deserved a farewell worthy of her service.
He also insisted the coffin remain closed.
According to Dominic, the condition of the nonexistent remains made viewing impossible.
Ward had found the speed troubling, but grief often made people behave irrationally. Dominic’s public anguish looked convincing. He cried during interviews. He thanked search crews. He announced that any insurance money would support wounded veterans.
Chloe stood beside him at every appearance.
When Ward told Vivienne this, she closed her eyes.
“He knows suspicion disappears when grief is public,” she said.
Ward sent a recovery team to the ranger station but kept the operation restricted. Vivienne was taken to a small military clinic under a false registration name. Only Ward, an investigator named Major Lena Ortiz, and one physician knew she had survived.
At the clinic, Vivienne handed over the signal jammer and broken padlock.
Ortiz examined both.
“This jammer is commercial but modified,” she said. “It may contain purchase data or stored settings.”
“Chloe bought it.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard them.”
Vivienne described the cabin, the altered route, Sergeant Hale’s sedation, and Dominic’s plan to use the storm as an explanation.
Ortiz listened without interruption.
“We need more than testimony,” she said. “Dominic will claim you are confused from exposure. Chloe will say she was never there. The contractor may disappear.”
“What about the messages?”
“We do not have them yet.”
Vivienne looked at Ward.
“Then let them believe I’m dead for one more day.”
Ward’s face tightened.
“You need medical care.”
“I’m receiving it.”
“You need rest.”
“I’ll rest when he cannot do this to anyone else.”
Ortiz understood first.
“The funeral,” she said. “You think they’ll communicate before the service.”
“They’ll believe the danger has passed. People make mistakes when they think the story is over.”
Ward walked toward the window.
“I cannot use a funeral as bait.”
“It is already bait,” Vivienne said. “Dominic built it.”
She asked investigators to monitor Dominic and Chloe, trace the funeral payments, review the insurance claim, and inspect the cabin quietly. She also requested a forensic audit of the digital orders that changed her route.
By evening, the first results arrived.
The authorization message had been inserted through a compromised logistics account connected to Dominic’s consulting firm.
The funeral home invoice had been paid six hours before the Army announced Vivienne missing.
The insurance company had received an inquiry about accelerated payout procedures two days before the training exercise.
And Chloe had sent Dominic a message that made Ortiz read the screen twice.
Once the doors close, she becomes a memory.
Vivienne stared at the sentence.
Then she asked, “Can we recover the rest?”
Ortiz nodded.
“We can try.”
May you like
“Do more than try.”
That night, while Dominic rehearsed a eulogy about devotion, investigators copied every device in his office.
