Chapter 15 - The Ultimate Revelation
The young soldier snapped to a sharp, respectful salute.
"Message from Department of Defense Inspector General, Colonel Bennett."
I took the heavy yellow envelope, breaking wax seal.
Inside lay a confidential intelligence dossier stamped strictly EYES ONLY.
I unfolded the official document, reading the top lines.
The report detailed a newly decrypted foreign intelligence drive.
A drive seized from Daniel Reed's private safe house.
My heart stopped beating in my chest in one second.
My breath hitched in my throat as I read paragraph:
"Subject Victoria Bennett was not the primary syndicate leader."
"She operated under direct orders from an undisclosed asset."
"An asset codenamed Phantom operating inside military high command."
I quickly flipped to the second page of document.
A high-resolution surveillance photograph was attached to page bottom.
The photo showed a military officer meeting with Daniel Reed.
The meeting occurred three days before my father's death.
The officer in photo wore four star general insignia.
The face was crystal clear under the bright street light.
It was General Vance, the man standing beside me.
The man who helped me prosecute Victoria in court.
The man who pretended to be my father's friend.
He sacrificed Victoria to protect his own secret identity.
A small handwritten sticky note was attached to photo:
"He is standing in your living room right now."
I slowly raised my head toward my front window glass.
Standing silently inside my dimly lit living room space,
General Vance poured himself a glass of my scotch.
May you like
He turned his head slowly, smiling at me through glass.
He raised his crystal glass in a silent, chilling toast.
