Chapter 13
I stepped onto the porch, refusing to show the fear that was clawing at my throat.
James stood half a step behind me, his body angled to obscure his weapon hand.
"General Vance," I said, my voice echoing into the quiet woods.
"You're a long way from the cemetery."
Vance let out a dry, humorless chuckle, leaning heavily on his cane as he walked toward the bottom of the porch steps.
"Arlington is a beautiful place, Daniel."
"But it's very crowded. And very quiet."
"I prefer the world of the living."
"Where you can still manipulate people from the shadows," I spat back.
"Where you can use a corrupt First Sergeant to terrorize my family."
Vance paused, looking up at me with an expression that looked surprisingly like disappointment.
"Kevin Lawson is an idiot," Vance said plainly.
"He inherited his father's greed but none of his intelligence."
"I told him to secure your grandfather's financial ledgers quietly."
"I didn't tell him to involve your mother, and I certainly didn't order him to touch your wife or child."
"That was your mother’s doing. A desperate, foolish woman trying to claw back wealth she felt entitled to."
"I don't care about your mother's petty squabbles, Daniel."
I laughed, a harsh, angry sound.
"You expect me to believe you didn't know?"
"My wife was hospitalized. My son almost died because of the people you put in motion."
Vance's eyes hardened, the grandfatherly facade vanishing instantly, replaced by the cold, ruthless glare of a man who had commanded thousands of soldiers in theater.
"I don't expect you to believe anything, Captain Brooks."
"I am here because your father left a piece of unfinished business."
"And whether you like it or not, you are the only one who can close the account."
"He hid the Black Slate decryption key."
"And I need it."
"Why?" I asked, keeping my hands steady. "The network was shut down twenty years ago."
"The network was hidden, not shut down," Vance corrected, taking another step closer.
May you like
"And right now, someone else is trying to activate it."
"Someone who will use it to tear this country apart from the inside out."
