Chapter 6: October First
We had thirty-six hours until October 1.
Price moved us to a secure military residence.
My mother hated the word “safe house.””
I hated that we needed one.
Two armed officers stood outside.
Another monitored the hallway.
I sat at the kitchen table with Grant’s words repeating in my head.
*Marcus found the file.*
Price entered carrying coffee.
“You should sleep.””
“So should you.””
“I’m being paid not to.””
“I’m being promoted not to.””
He almost smiled.
Almost.
My mother entered behind him.
“We found Marcus Bell’s last access record.””
I stood.
“Where?””
“My headquarters.””
“When?””
“Three weeks ago.””
“What did he access?””
“A restricted procurement archive.””
Price placed a printed log on the table.
Marcus had opened eleven files.
Ten had ordinary identification codes.
The eleventh was blank.
“No filename?”” I asked.
“None.””
“Can we recover it?””
“Not from this terminal.””
“Why?””
Mom pulled out a chair.
“Because the archive was migrated.””
“To where?””
She looked at me.
“Your new command.””
Of course.
The file William feared was sitting inside the system I would gain authority to access after promotion.
“Then we wait until October 1.””
Price shook his head.
“That gives them thirty-six hours to delete it.””
“So access it now.””
“You don’t have authorization yet.””
I stared at Mom.
She knew what I was asking.
“No.””
“You’re a four-star general.””
“And that does not mean laws become optional when inconvenient.””
“Marcus may be dead.””
“And if we compromise the evidence illegally, we may destroy the case.””
I paced.
My daughter kicked again.
“Then what can we do?””
Price tapped the access log.
“Find out why Marcus opened the other ten files.””
For the next six hours, we worked.
Contracts.
Invoices.
Shipping manifests.
Inspection reports.
At first, nothing connected.
Then I noticed dates.
“Wait.””
I placed three documents side by side.
“These shipments supposedly went to Fort Harlan.””
Price nodded.
“So?””
“I was stationed there.””
Mom leaned closer.
“These serial numbers…”
“Don’t exist.””
“How do you know?””
“Because this equipment category uses an eight-digit serial sequence.””
These had nine.
Price stared.
“Fake shipments?””
“Possibly.””
We checked another.
Then another.
Twenty-seven million dollars in equipment had supposedly been delivered to units that never received it.
Price called his team.
Within an hour, they found more.
Forty-one million.
Then sixty-three.
Sentinel had been billing the government for equipment that apparently did not exist.
But that still didn’t explain Marcus disappearing.
My phone buzzed.
Blocked number.
Price immediately began tracing.
A text appeared.
*Stop looking.*
Another followed.
A photograph.
It showed the safe house.
Taken from outside.
My mother moved instantly.
“Everyone away from the windows.””
The security team locked down the building.
Price shouted into his radio.
“Perimeter breach!””
I crouched behind the kitchen wall.
My heart hammered.
Then a third message appeared.
*Your husband got one warning. You won’t.*
My hands went cold.
A vehicle engine roared outside.
One officer shouted.
Another ran toward the rear exit.
Price grabbed my arm.
“Stay here.””
“No.””
“Audrey—”
A crash sounded outside.
Then silence.
Long, horrible silence.
Finally the radio crackled.
“Vehicle gone. No shots fired.””
Price swore.
“They wanted us to know they could reach us.””
Mom looked at my phone.
“No.””
She pointed at the photograph.
“They wanted Audrey looking at the house.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“Look at the timestamp.””
The photograph had been taken forty minutes earlier.
Before we had received it.
Price understood first.
“This was a distraction.””
His phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“When?””
Pause.
“Lock the entire facility down.””
He ended the call.
“What happened?”” I asked.
“The Sentinel archive was breached.””
My stomach dropped.
“Deleted?””
“They’re trying.””
“Trying?””
“The system automatically locked when unauthorized deletion began.””
“How long before they bypass it?””
“We don’t know.””
I looked at the clock.
11:17 p.m.
October 1 was forty-three minutes away.
Mom understood.
“Her authority activates at midnight.””
Price nodded.
“If the archive survives until then, Audrey may be the only authorized commander who can lock it permanently.””
We left under armed escort.
The drive to headquarters felt endless.
11:31.
11:42.
11:51.
At 11:56, we entered the command center.
Technicians surrounded the main terminal.
“Deletion at sixty-eight percent!”” someone shouted.
I moved toward the console.
A lieutenant blocked me.
“Captain, you don’t have command authority yet.””
I looked at the clock.
11:58.
“Two minutes.””
“Deletion at seventy-four percent!””
Price stood behind me.
Mom remained silent.
She couldn’t legally give me authority I didn’t yet possess.
11:59.
The system flashed.
*ARCHIVE DELETION: 81%*
“Come on,” I whispered.
Seconds crawled.
Then midnight.
The screen refreshed.
My credentials changed.
*CAPTAIN AUDREY LANE — COMMAND AUTHORITY ACTIVE*
“Move.””
The lieutenant stepped aside.
I entered my authorization.
The system asked:
*LOCK SENTINEL ARCHIVE?*
“Yes.””
I pressed ENTER.
The deletion stopped at eighty-seven percent.
For one heartbeat, nobody moved.
Then another message appeared.
*13% DATA PRESERVED.*
Price leaned forward.
“Open it.””
I did.
Only four files remained intact.
Three were financial ledgers.
The fourth was a video.
No title.
No date.
I clicked it.
Marcus Bell appeared on screen.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
“If you’re watching this,” he said, “they either failed to delete the archive…”
He swallowed.
“…or I’m already dead.””
My mother gripped the desk.
Marcus continued.
“Sentinel is not just stealing money. The fake contracts are covering something else.””
He held up a list.
Names.
Senior officers.
Executives.
Government contractors.
Then he said the sentence that silenced the entire command center.
“Colonel Grant Lane is involved, but he is not the person running it.””
My pulse hammered.
Marcus leaned toward the camera.
“The person directing Project Sentinel is someone nobody will investigate because everyone believes she ordered the investigation herself.””
My eyes slowly moved toward my mother.
Onscreen, Marcus opened his mouth.
“The person you need to investigate is General—”
The video corrupted.
May you like
The screen went black.
And every person in the room turned toward General Rebecca Mercer.
