Chapter 12 - The General's Secret
The Betrayal Inside Command
For several seconds, nobody moved.
General Grant looked at my father.
“You're lying.”
Dad laughed weakly.
“I wish I were.”
I stepped between them.
“What are you talking about?”
Dad grabbed the railing.
“I never trusted the academy to protect you.”
“Then why did you let me attend?”
“Because General Grant was the only reason you survived your first year.”
I looked at Grant.
He didn't speak.
Dad continued.
“Someone inside command has been monitoring your progress since you were fourteen.”
“Who?”
Grant finally answered.
“Me.”
I felt the room tilt.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother asked me to.”
I looked at Dad.
He nodded.
“She knew Voss couldn't be trusted.”
“But you said the threat was external.”
“It was.”
Grant looked at me.
“And internal.”
Dad coughed.
Blood stained his hand.
I stepped toward him.
“Who funded Voss?”
He shook his head.
“Not Grant.”
I stared.
“Then why did you say his name?”
“Because the person behind this used his access.”
Dad looked at General Grant.
“They copied his authorization.”
Grant's jaw tightened.
“So you were framed.”
“Yes.”
Dad turned toward me.
“Emma, listen carefully.”
He took my hand.
“The person behind this is not a soldier.”
“Who?”
“It's someone who has been standing beside you for years.”
My heart raced.
“Sandra?”
He shook his head.
“Not her.”
“Brooke?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He looked at General Grant.
“Your academy superintendent.”
I froze.
The superintendent.
The man who had personally praised me.
The man who had presented my award.
The man who had spoken about leadership.
Grant immediately understood.
“Commander Hayes.”
Dad nodded.
“He controls the academy's administrative systems.”
“But why?”
“Because he was one of the people Evelyn exposed.”
Grant's face turned cold.
“What exactly did Evelyn discover?”
Dad answered.
“That Hayes, Voss, and several civilian officials built a network using government contracts to move money through shell companies.”
“And you?”
“I found out.”
“Why didn't you expose them?”
“Because they threatened Emma.”
My chest tightened.
Dad continued.
“They told me if I spoke, she would disappear.”
“And you believed them?”
“They already had one attempt.”
“What attempt?”
Dad looked at me.
“When you were seven.”
My breath caught.
“The school photographs.”
“Yes.”
“They weren't random.”
“No.”
“Someone was tracking me.”
“Yes.”
I remembered the first photograph.
The second.
The final picture.
My entire childhood had been watched.
Dad squeezed my hand.
“I made mistakes, Emma.”
I couldn't stop the tears.
“You made me think I was nothing.”
He lowered his head.
“I know.”
“You let them take my opportunities.”
“I thought keeping you invisible would keep you alive.”
“It hurt me.”
“I know.”
Silence.
Then General Grant's radio crackled.
“All units, superintendent Hayes has left the command building.”
Grant looked at Dad.
“What did he take?”
Dad whispered,
“The original evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Dad looked at me.
“The recording proving who ordered your mother's disappearance.”
I stepped forward.
“Where is Hayes going?”
Dad closed his eyes.
“To finish what he started.”
“Where?”
He opened them.
“Your graduation parade tomorrow.”
My blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because he knows everyone who matters will be there.”
Grant understood.
“He wants to kill the evidence.”
Dad shook his head.
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“He wants to kill the witness.”
I realized who he meant.
My mother.
May you like
Evelyn was still alive.
And Hayes knew where she was.
