Chapter 6 - One Phone Call
“JAG?” I said after the call connected. “I need Dominic Vance’s file opened now.”
Dominic’s expression shifted.
He recovered quickly, but not quickly enough.
He knew the significance of that word.
JAG was not a person. It was the military legal system he had manipulated for years—the same system whose sealed files protected him from civilian scrutiny.
“What are you doing?” Amelia whispered.
I activated the speaker.
“Colonel Mercer,” Major Rebecca Shaw replied, “the unsealing order is active. The joint team has authorization to seize all listed properties.”
Dominic stepped toward me.
“Give me the phone.”
I remained seated.
“No.”
His hand hovered near his belt.
Every customer saw it.
Deputy Noah Bell rose from a table near the rear of the diner.
He had entered ten minutes earlier wearing civilian clothes.
“Don’t do it, Sheriff,” Noah said.
Dominic turned.
“You’re suspended.”
“Not anymore.”
Noah removed an evidence envelope from inside his jacket.
“I gave them the transfer records.”
Dominic’s face reddened.
“You little traitor.”
“No,” Noah replied. “I finally remembered what the badge was supposed to mean.”
Outside, the first government vehicle turned into the parking lot.
Dominic looked toward the rear exit.
Ruby Delgado stepped out of the kitchen and blocked the doorway.
For years, she had given him free meals because she feared losing her business license.
Now her hands were still shaking, but she did not move.
“You stay right there,” she said.
Dominic laughed once, though there was no humor in it.
“You people think these outsiders will protect you?”
Evelyn Cross stood from a booth near the counter.
“They aren’t outsiders,” she said. “They’re witnesses.”
The front door opened.
Major Rebecca Shaw entered with representatives from the Department of Defense Inspector General, the Montana attorney general’s office and the State Police.
She took in the scene—the milkshake in my hair, the empty cup on the floor and Dominic’s hand near his belt.
“Step away from Colonel Mercer,” she ordered.
Dominic straightened.
“I’m the elected sheriff of this county.”
“And a commissioned officer in the Montana Army National Guard,” Rebecca said. “You are hereby relieved of military duties pending investigation.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I already did.”
A state investigator moved toward him.
Dominic pointed at me.
“This man threatened me.”
The diner erupted.
“No, he didn’t,” Ruby said.
“We saw everything,” another customer added.
“He never stood up,” someone shouted.
Evelyn held up her phone.
“I recorded it.”
Dominic looked at Amelia.
It was the same look he had given her moments earlier—a silent command.
But Amelia no longer looked confident.
“Tell them,” he said.
She glanced at me, then at the investigators.
“He was angry,” she said weakly.
“Was Colonel Mercer physically threatening?” Rebecca asked.
Amelia hesitated.
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“Answer her.”
“No,” Amelia admitted.
Dominic stepped toward her.
Two state troopers immediately moved between them.
Rebecca opened a folder.
“Dominic Vance, investigators are executing warrants on your office, residence, hunting cabin and three storage facilities. The allegations include theft of federal property, falsification of military records, obstruction of justice, witness intimidation and conspiracy.”
Dominic’s face lost all color.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Rebecca nodded toward me.
“Actually, Sheriff, Colonel Mercer has spent the past year finding out.”
Amelia turned to me.
“You used me.”
I wiped milkshake from my cheek.
“No,” I said. “Dominic used you. I trusted you.”
That truth silenced her.
May you like
The investigators escorted Dominic from the diner.
For the first time, no one moved aside to make room for him.
