Chapter 5 - THE DAUGHTER OF THE ENEMY|
At first, Claire assumed she had misunderstood.
“The general's daughter?”
Whitmore nodded.
“Dr. Evelyn Voss.”
Colonel Bennett placed the photograph between them.
“She has been working under several identities connected to classified medical operations.”
Claire stared at Evelyn's face.
“She visited the base under a false name.”
“Yes,” Whitmore answered.
“And she's the person who helped Daniel survive.”
“That appears to be the case.”
Claire struggled to reconcile the two facts.
If Evelyn was working for her father, why save Daniel?
And if she was working against him, why had she approached Hayes?
Whitmore seemed to read the question on her face.
“Sergeant, family loyalty doesn't always mean agreement.”
Claire folded her arms.
“Neither does disagreement mean innocence.”
“Correct.”
Bennett stepped forward.
“We need to recover Dr. Voss and confirm whether Daniel is in protective custody or being held against his will.”
Claire looked at the hospital photograph again.
“There's something strange about it.”
Whitmore leaned closer.
“What?”
“Daniel's wrist.”
Bennett enlarged the image.
A thin red cord was tied around Daniel's left wrist.
Whitmore frowned.
“Medical identification?”
“No, sir.”
Claire reached beneath her collar and pulled out a small red cord attached to her identification chain.
“Daniel gave me this after our first deployment.”
Bennett studied the matching cords.
“What's its significance?”
“Before we left Afghanistan, our unit had a tradition.”
Claire swallowed.
“We tied these cords around our wrists and promised that if somebody went missing, we wouldn't leave without them.”
Whitmore looked toward the photograph.
“You think he's sending another message?”
Claire nodded.
“He wants us to remember the promise.”
The room fell quiet.
Then Bennett's phone vibrated.
She answered and listened.
Her expression changed.
“General, there's been an incident at Walter Reed.”
Whitmore stood immediately.
“Price?”
“A fire alarm triggered an evacuation in the wing where he was being treated.”
“Where is he now?”
“Unknown.”
Claire felt her chest tighten.
Bennett continued.
“Security personnel found his room empty.”
Whitmore cursed under his breath.
“Get federal investigators and hospital security coordinating immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
Claire stepped forward.
“Sir, I think Daniel left voluntarily.”
Whitmore turned.
“Why?”
“Because the photograph was deliberate.”
She pointed toward the red cord.
“He wanted us to know he was alive before he disappeared.”
Whitmore considered her words.
“Then where would he go?”
Claire hesitated.
There was one place Daniel had always called his emergency refuge.
A place he had mentioned during nights when deployment felt endless.
But saying it aloud could place him in even greater danger.
She looked toward Bennett.
“Ma'am, can I speak privately with the general?”
Bennett's eyebrows rose slightly.
Whitmore nodded.
“Give us a moment.”
After the door closed, Claire spoke.
“Sir, I know where Daniel might go.”
“Where?”
“His family's old cabin in western Pennsylvania.”
“Does it still belong to him?”
“Technically, it belongs to his sister.”
“Then we'll send a team.”
Claire shook her head.
“No, sir.”
Whitmore frowned.
“Sergeant, this isn't a personal rescue operation.”
“I understand.”
“Then why are you objecting?”
“Because every time someone in authority learns where Daniel is, something terrible happens.”
Whitmore looked at her for a long moment.
Claire continued.
“His death was falsified.”
“He was hidden in a hospital under another name.”
“Then the moment headquarters started asking questions, he disappeared.”
She took a breath.
“Someone is receiving our information.”
Whitmore said nothing.
Claire pressed on.
“Sir, please consider the possibility that your own team has a leak.”
Whitmore's expression hardened.
“That's a serious accusation.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Against people who have served this country for decades.”
Claire met his eyes.
“General Hayes served this country for decades too.”
Whitmore looked away.
For the first time, Claire saw the full weight of what he was facing.
He had spent his career believing the military's institutions could correct their own failures.
Now those same institutions were being manipulated to destroy the people trying to tell the truth.
Finally, he nodded.
“We'll restrict the information.”
Claire exhaled.
“And Claire?”
She looked up, startled by his use of her first name.
“Yes, sir?”
“I need you to trust me enough to tell me when you think I'm wrong.”
She swallowed.
“I think you're wrong to assume everyone around you is loyal.”
Whitmore gave a grim smile.
“Fair enough.”
That evening, Claire boarded a military transport aircraft bound for the East Coast.
Bennett sat across from her.
Two investigators occupied the rear seats.
Whitmore remained behind to supervise the installation investigation.
As the aircraft climbed, Bennett handed Claire a sealed envelope.
“This came through a protected reporting channel.”
Claire examined it.
Her name was handwritten across the front.
Inside was a single photograph.
A younger Lieutenant General Voss stood beside Robert Hayes and several defense contractors.
Behind them was a banner celebrating a Northstar Strategic Solutions partnership.
Claire turned the photograph over.
Five words had been written in black ink.
THE FIRST SHIPMENT WASN'T EQUIPMENT.
Claire stared at the message.
Then she noticed a tiny symbol beneath it.
A red triangle.
She had seen that same symbol in Daniel's notebook.
Bennett watched her.
“Do you recognize it?”
Claire nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“On shipping containers at Depot Seven.”
“What was inside them?”
Claire looked toward the dark sky beyond the window.
Her voice became almost inaudible.
“I don't know.”
Bennett leaned closer.
“But you have a theory.”
Claire swallowed.
“Ma'am, I think the missing equipment was only a distraction.”
“A distraction from what?”
Claire unfolded Daniel's old supply manifest.
One entry had been highlighted in red.
A shipment listed simply as humanitarian transport.
No equipment description.
No destination.
No recipient.
Just a classification code.
May you like
And the name of the approving authority.
Nathaniel Voss.
