Chapter 5 - THE GHOST FROM MY PAST
General Cole wasn't a general anymore.
He had become a private consultant.
Powerful.
Wealthy.
Connected.
And angry.
Harper explained everything.
“Cole believes you ruined his career.”
“I didn't.”
“He doesn't care.”
I sat in my kitchen that night, staring at an old photograph.
Young men.
Uniforms.
A different life.
A life I'd buried.
Eleanor came in.
“You're scared.”
I looked at her.
“I've been scared before.”
“That's not what I meant.”
She sat beside me.
“You're afraid this will reach Evelyn.”
I nodded.
She took my hand.
“Then don't fight for revenge.”
I looked at her.
“Fight for our family.”
Those words changed everything.
The next morning, Detective Bennett arrested Dustin.
The charges included aggravated assault and witness intimidation.
When they put handcuffs on him, he looked directly at me.
“This isn't over.”
I answered calmly.
“Yes.”
“It is.”
He smiled.
“You have no idea what's coming.”
I walked away.
For once, I believed him.
Three hours later, Evelyn received a message from an unknown number.
A video.
She opened it.
It showed Dustin talking to Marcus.
Then Marcus said something that made Evelyn scream.
“He knows.”
The video ended.
“What does he know?” Eleanor asked.
I replayed it.
Marcus had said:
“He knows about the archive.”
I froze.
The archive.
I knew exactly what he meant.
Years ago, I had helped establish a confidential training archive containing reports about corruption, misconduct, and threats against service members.
If Marcus had discovered it, he could be looking for information that could destroy powerful people.
Including Cole.
I called Harper.
“We need to find the archive.”
“You still have access?”
“No.”
“But someone else does.”
“Who?”
Harper gave me a name.
“Ethan Mercer.”
My younger brother.
Dead for eighteen years.
I stared at the phone.
“That can't be right.”
Harper's voice softened.
“I know.”
But then he said:
“Your brother wasn't killed in the accident.”
My world stopped.
“What?”
May you like
“He disappeared.”
And suddenly the story I'd believed for almost two decades began falling apart.
