Chapter 3 - THE TERMINALDaniel stood so quickly his chair nearly struck the officer behind him.
“That’s impossible.”
General Hale’s aide, Major Owen Mercer, kept his voice deliberately low.
“Sir, we need you to come with us.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Claire, I haven’t been in my office since four.”
I believed him.
That was the problem.
If Daniel had been lying, his face would have shown defensiveness.
Instead, he looked frightened in the particular way innocent people do when they suddenly understand that facts can be arranged against them.
Hale signaled to two security officers.
“Quietly.”
The ballroom continued around us, but the atmosphere had changed.
Most guests had no idea what was happening.
To them, the spectacle was over.
The mysterious woman in blue was a major general.
The embarrassing mother-in-law had made a terrible mistake.
Dinner could continue.
They didn’t know that somewhere inside Fort Harrington, a secure system had been accessed using credentials associated with my husband.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“What briefing?”
Hale did not answer.
Daniel looked at me.
And in that moment, I understood what he was really asking.
Was the briefing connected to you?
“Yes,” I said.
His expression changed.
“How?”
“I’m leading it.”
Margaret appeared again before security could escort Daniel away.
“Where are you taking my son?”
“Mom, stay here.”
“No. What is happening?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Stay here.”
She grabbed his arm.
“I’m not going anywhere until somebody explains why my son is being treated like a criminal.”
Hale turned toward her.
“Mrs. Whitmore, this is an official matter.”
“He hasn’t done anything.”
“No one said he has.”
“Then why are those men standing beside him?”
Daniel pulled his arm free.
“Mom.”
Her eyes filled with alarm.
And for the first time that evening, her fear appeared genuine.
She looked at me.
“Do something.”
The irony was almost unbearable.
Twenty minutes earlier she had tried to have me thrown from the building.
Now she expected my authority to protect Daniel.
“I will,” I said.
Margaret blinked.
I continued, “By making sure the facts are established.”
“That’s your husband.”
“I know.”
“You should trust him.”
“I do.”
Daniel looked at me.
That surprised him.
I walked toward him.
“Did you access your office terminal after 1600?”
“No.”
“Did you give anyone your access card?”
“No.”
“Anyone use your office?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
“Daniel.”
“Rebecca stopped by.”
Margaret looked confused.
“Rebecca?”
“When?”
“Around three-thirty.”
“What did she want?”
“She said she was looking for her father.”
Rebecca Harrison’s father, Colonel Thomas Harrison, was deputy chief of staff at Fort Harrington.
And unlike Rebecca, he had legitimate access to several restricted areas.
“Was she alone?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Maybe five minutes.”
“Did you leave her in the office?”
Daniel looked away.
“About thirty seconds. Someone called me into the hallway.”
Hale’s expression darkened.
“Where is Ms. Harrison now?”
Everyone turned.
Rebecca was gone.
Margaret’s face changed.
“She was just there.”
Hale signaled Mercer.
“Lock down the building discreetly. Find her.”
Mercer left.
Margaret whispered, “What are you suggesting?”
“Nothing yet,” I said.
But my instincts were screaming.
Too many coincidences.
Rebecca arriving unexpectedly.
Margaret being told my seat assignment was wrong.
The MPs being summoned.
An access event from Daniel’s terminal.
And tomorrow’s briefing.
Operation Sentinel Glass.
The reason I had returned to Fort Harrington secretly.
For nearly eight months, Army investigators had been tracking suspicious leaks involving defense procurement contracts.
Nothing cinematic.
No secret weapon.
No enemy agents hiding behind curtains.
Mostly money.
Contract bids.
Logistics projections.
Deployment timelines that could give private vendors enormous advantages.
Millions of dollars depended on information before it became public.
Someone inside the system had been selling pieces of it.
Tomorrow morning’s meeting was supposed to narrow the investigation.
Very few people knew I was coming.
Fewer knew I was directing it.
Daniel did not.
Margaret definitely did not.
But Colonel Harrison did.
I turned toward Hale.
“We need to talk somewhere private.”
He nodded.
We left the ballroom through the staff corridor.
Daniel came with us under escort.
Margaret tried to follow.
Security stopped her.
“Claire!” she shouted.
I turned.
Her expression was angry again.
“You cannot keep doing this to my family!”
My family.
Not our family.
That distinction had existed from the day Daniel placed a ring on my finger.
I looked at her calmly.
“Go home, Margaret.”
Her mouth opened.
“Tonight is over.”
Then I walked away.
The secure conference room was two floors below.
Once the door closed, Hale placed a folder on the table.
Daniel remained standing.
“I want to know what is happening.”
I looked at Hale.
He nodded.
It was time.
I gestured toward the chair across from me.
“Sit down.”
“I’d rather stand.”
“Fine.”
I removed a thin file from the folder.
“Eight months ago, Army Criminal Investigation Division flagged irregular access connected to three procurement programs.”
Daniel listened.
“Information was appearing in private hands before authorized releases. Contracting firms were adjusting bids with unusual precision.”
“You think someone is selling information?”
“We know someone is.”
Daniel’s expression tightened.
“And you think it’s me?”
“No.”
“Then why am I here?”
“Because tonight, your workstation accessed a restricted briefing packet.”
He stared at me.
“I told you I didn’t do that.”
“I believe you.”
“Then find whoever did.”
“That’s what we’re doing.”
Hale spoke.
“Captain, who has access to your office?”
Daniel listed several names.
Then paused.
“Colonel Harrison.”
Of course.
Hale and I exchanged a glance.
Daniel saw it.
“What?”
I opened another file.
Inside were photographs.
Colonel Harrison meeting representatives from Colter Dynamics, one of the companies under review.
None of the meetings alone proved wrongdoing.
That was why tomorrow’s briefing mattered.
Daniel slowly sat.
“You’ve been investigating Rebecca’s father?”
“For months.”
His eyes moved back to me.
“And you never told me.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I’m your husband.”
“And you work under his command structure.”
Daniel stared at me.
“That’s why you kept everything secret.”
“Partly.”
Silence filled the room.
He finally understood that my secrecy had not been designed to diminish him.
Some of it had protected him.
But only some.
His next question proved he understood that too.
“What’s the other part?”
I looked at my husband.
“Us.”
Daniel leaned back.
I continued.
“I stopped telling you about my career because every time I tried, you made me feel like it mattered less than yours.”
His face hardened.
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
“When I made brigadier general, I tried telling you.”
He stared at me.
“When?”
“The night you learned Major Collins got the command you wanted.”
His face changed.
I continued.
“I bought champagne.”
He remembered.
I saw it happen.
“That bottle…”
“Yes.”
“You said it was for later.”
“Because you spent three hours talking about how humiliated you felt.”
Daniel sat motionless.
“And when you made your second star?”
“I tried again.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
His eyes widened.
“Our anniversary dinner?”
“You spent forty minutes answering your mother’s calls because she thought I had chosen the wrong restaurant.”
Daniel looked down.
Neither of us spoke for several seconds.
Then the secure phone rang.
Hale answered.
His expression tightened.
“Where?”
He listened.
“When?”
Another pause.
“Keep everyone there.”
He hung up.
“What happened?” I asked.
“They found Rebecca.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Good.”
Hale looked at him.
“No.”
Something in his voice made the room cold.
“She was found in Colonel Harrison’s office.”
“Doing what?”
Hale’s eyes shifted toward me.
“Destroying documents.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
May you like
But Hale was not finished.
“And she says you told her to do it.”
Related Stories
