Part 2
The sharp scratch on my collarbone burned, but it was nothing compared to the white-hot fury coursing through my veins. The ballroom had descended into a dead, suffocating silence. High-ranking officers, diplomats, and their spouses were frozen, drinks halfway to their mouths, staring at the spectacle unfolding near the center tables. Barrett stood there, phone pressed to his...
PART 2
Mason looked from Senior Chief Price to me.
“That’s not possible.”
Price handed back my CAC.
“It is.”
Rebecca stepped between us.
“Lieutenant Hale, return Commander Brooks’s name tag.”
He placed it on the table instead. The clasp was bent.
Rebecca said, “You physically removed part of her uniform after being told to use security.”
“So what now?” Mason snapped. “She fails my unit because I...
Part 2
The tent was dead silent, save for the relentless drumming of rain on the canvas. Garrett was still clutching his chest, glaring daggers at me, waiting for Miller to throw me out in cuffs.
Miller didn’t move. He stared at the grease pencil markings, then up at my face, then back down to the map. He took off his...
PART 2
Garrett looked at me as if I had changed shape.
“You were a major?”
“I was.”
“In what?”
“Army aviation operations and personnel recovery planning.”
“You told me you worked in logistics.”
“I do now.”
Miller stepped to the map.
“Major Rowan served with an aviation support element attached to special operations missions. Callsign was Compass.”
I gave him a look.
“That part wasn’t necessary.”
“It is if he...
Part 2
I locked the door to our cheap motel room, my hands shaking so violently I dropped the keycard twice. Leo was safe, curled up on the bed watching cartoons, completely unaware of the monstrous threat his father had just hissed at me. I stepped into the bathroom, turned on the exhaust fan to muffle my voice, and pulled...
PART 2
I did not reply to the message.
I screenshotted it, forwarded everything to my sister, and took Caleb straight to our hotel.
Then I called the one person I trusted not to tell me I was imagining things.
Mara Collins had been my college roommate before becoming a licensed private investigator specializing in financial fraud.
She answered on the second ring.
“Allison?”
“I found...
PART 2
I twisted Harrison’s wrist just enough to force him to his knees. The iPhone clattered onto the hardwood floor, the screen cracking, though the red recording light kept blinking.
“Get your hands off him!” Evelyn shrieked, dropping her martini glass. It shattered, raining crystal across the Persian rug.
I released his arm with a forceful shove, sending him sprawling backward....
PART 2
Mason looked at his mother.
“Tell me this is nothing.”
Evelyn didn’t answer.
The knock came again.
A housekeeper opened the door before either of them could stop her.
Two state police investigators entered with a plainclothes financial-crimes detective and my father’s attorney, Nathan Cole.
Nathan saw me.
“Claire.”
I nodded.
Evelyn stood so quickly her chair tipped backward.
“You cannot just walk into my home.”
One investigator held...
Part 2
"Echo Actual, give the order!" Admiral Vance roared, taking cover behind a shattered marble pillar as bullets chewed the drywall to dust above our heads.
My father was trembling violently on the floor, his hands covering his ears. He looked at me—truly looked at me—for the first time in twenty years. He saw the gun in my hand. He...
PART 2
“She saved your command?” Dad repeated.
Vice Admiral Mercer glanced at me before answering.
“During a joint maritime operation eleven years ago, our task group lost access to part of its normal communications picture. Captain Shaw was serving on a compartmented planning team. She recognized that what looked like a routine technical failure was actually a coordinated attempt to feed...
