Chapter 7: The General He Never Named
Nobody spoke.
The command center seemed to shrink around my mother.
General Rebecca Mercer stood perfectly still beside me while Marcus Bell’s frozen face remained on the corrupted screen.
“The person you need to investigate is General—”
That was all we had.
General.
Not Mercer.
Not Rebecca.
Just one unfinished word.
But everyone was looking at her.
My mother noticed.
“Agent Price,” she said calmly, “secure this room.””
Price hesitated.
“General—”
“That was an order.””
The doors locked.
“No one copies, transmits, deletes, or alters anything from this terminal.””
She removed her access badge.
Then she placed it on the desk.
“And until Marcus Bell’s statement is recovered, I am voluntarily removing myself from this investigation.””
“Mom.””
Her eyes met mine.
Not General Mercer.
Mom.
“Don’t.””
“Audrey, this is bigger than what either of us wants.””
“You started the investigation into Sentinel.””
“According to Marcus, that may be exactly why the person behind it cannot be investigated.””
“You think he meant you?””
“I think assuming he didn’t would be irresponsible.””
Price stepped forward.
“We have no evidence Marcus was referring to General Mercer.””
My mother nodded.
“Which is why you investigate.””
She turned toward him.
“Everything. My finances. My communications.
My travel. My classified access. No exceptions.””
“Rebecca—”
“No exceptions.””
Then she looked at me.
“You are commanding officer now.””
The words hit differently than they had hours earlier.
I had imagined this moment for years.
My first command.
Instead of applause, I inherited a corrupted archive, a missing witness, a fugitive husband, and suspicion surrounding my own mother.
A technician raised his hand.
“Captain?””
I forced myself to focus.
“Yes?””
“We may be able to recover part of the deleted video.””
“How long?””
“Hours.””
“You have one.””
His eyes widened.
“Ma’am—”
“One hour. Recover whatever you can.””
“Yes, Captain.””
I turned to Price.
“Find every general connected to Sentinel.””
“That could be dozens.””
“Then start with the names Marcus accessed.””
Price studied me for a second.
Then nodded.
“Yes, Captain.””
My mother almost smiled.
I saw pride in her face.
Then military police entered.
Price had called them.
My stomach tightened.
“Is that necessary?””
Mom answered before he could.
“Yes.””
One officer approached her.
“General Mercer, we’ve been instructed to escort you to secure quarters pending preliminary review.””
She handed him her badge.
“Understood.””
As she passed me, I whispered, “I’ll clear your name.””
She stopped.
“No.””
I stared at her.
“Find the truth.””
Then she left.
Thirty minutes later, Price returned with a list.
“Seven generals had direct Sentinel involvement.””
I scanned the names.
Rebecca Mercer.
Thomas Keane.
Howard Voss.
Elliot Ramsey.
Peter Caldwell.
Susan Holt.
And William Lane.
I stopped.
“William was a general.””
“Three-star before retirement.””
“He could be Marcus’s ‘General.’”
“Possibly.””
“Then why stage all this around Mom?””
Price leaned against the desk.
“Because if your mother is discredited, the investigation she ordered becomes vulnerable.””
“So Marcus may have been warning us about William.””
“Maybe.””
I hated that word.
Maybe.
A technician called from across the room.
“Captain Lane!””
I hurried over.
“We recovered nine more seconds.””
Marcus appeared again.
Static tore through the image.
“…person you need to investigate is General…”
The sound vanished.
Marcus turned his head.
Then audio returned.
“…knows about the pregnancy.””
The video died again.
I stopped breathing.
Price looked at me.
“Your pregnancy?””
“Who else?””
“Could mean anything.””
“No.””
I backed away from the monitor.
Someone connected to Sentinel knew about my baby.
My private medical appointments had appeared in surveillance photographs.
Grant had attacked me while I was pregnant.
And William had blamed me for provoking him.
Price’s phone rang.
He answered.
“This is Price.””
His face changed.
“Where?””
He listened.
“Keep him alive.””
He hung up.
“Grant?””
Price nodded.
“They found him.””
“Where?””
“Abandoned warehouse six miles from the transport route.””
“Alive?””
“Barely.””
My hand went to my stomach.
I hated Grant.
But hearing “barely” still hurt.
“He’s being transported to the base hospital.””
“I want to speak to him.””
“Not until doctors clear him.””
“I’m his wife.””
“And he’s under investigation.””
“I’m also commanding officer of the unit tied to this case.””
“That makes it worse.””
I stared him down.
Price sighed.
“If he wakes up, I’ll let you know.””
The technician interrupted again.
“There’s another file.””
“What file?””
“Marcus embedded something inside the video.””
A document appeared.
It was a medical record.
Mine.
My prenatal chart.
Every appointment.
Every ultrasound.
My due date.
My blood type.
My doctor.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
*BABY LANE — LEVERAGE IF AUDREY REFUSES.*
The room tilted.
Price caught my arm.
“Sit down.””
I didn’t.
“Who wrote that?””
“We’ll analyze it.””
“Who had access to this?””
“Hospital staff. Medical command. Possibly—”
A notification flashed on the terminal.
Someone had remotely accessed my prenatal file again.
Right now.
Price barked, “Trace it!””
The technician typed furiously.
“Routing through internal military network.””
“Location?””
“Stand by.””
Five seconds.
Ten.
Then the technician froze.
“Sir…”
“Where?””
He turned toward us.
May you like
“The access terminal is inside the secure quarters building.””
The same building where my mother had just been taken.
