Chapter 6 - The Interrogation Room
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Ethan Caldwell sat alone in a stark, windowless interrogation room in the basement of the federal building.
His dress uniform had been stripped away and replaced with a coarse orange prisoner jumpsuit.
His hands were cuffed to a heavy steel loop welded directly into the center of the metal table.
When the heavy security door clicked open, Ethan snapped his head up, his eyes bloodshot and dark with fatigue.
Evelyn Cross walked in, holding a fresh legal pad and a single manila envelope.
She pulled out the metal chair opposite him and sat down without speaking.
Ethan forced a harsh, defensive sneer onto his face.
“You think you’re smart, don’t you, Cross?” Ethan growled, rattling the chains against the table.
“You think you’ve won some kind of prize.”
“My lawyer is on his way down here right now.”
“And the moment he makes one phone call to Major General Harrison, this entire circus is getting dismantled.”
Evelyn opened the manila envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper, sliding it across the table.
It was an official military order bearing the stamp of the Secretary of the Navy.
“Major General Harrison was relieved of command at zero-six-hundred this morning,” Evelyn stated, her voice icy and calm.
“His office at the Pentagon was sealed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service thirty minutes ago.”
“Federal marshals are currently executing search warrants on his estate in Alexandria.”
Ethan’s eyes widened, the sneer evaporating from his face like vapor.
“You’re lying,” Ethan stammered, his voice losing its venomous strength.
“Harrison is family.”
“He’s untouchable.”
“Nobody is untouchable when national security is compromised, Ethan,” Evelyn said, leaning forward slightly.
“Harrison didn't protect you because he cared about you.”
“He protected you because you were his pipeline to millions of dollars in stolen military hardware.”
“And the moment the FBI raided your warehouse, Harrison submitted his immediate retirement papers to save his own skin.”
“He threw you to the wolves before the sun even came up.”
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Ethan stared down at the black-and-white order, his breath hitching in his chest.
The golden armor he had hidden behind for years had just shattered into a thousand pieces.
