Chapter 18 - THE PRICE OF SURVIVAL
Ethan was still breathing when the medics placed him inside the ambulance.
I climbed in beside him, but Commander Keene caught my arm.
“Logan, we need the drive.”
“No.”
“It may be the only complete copy.”
“And my brother is the only surviving witness.”
Her expression softened for half a second.
Then the soldier returned.
“Give me five minutes to duplicate it,” she said. “You stay beside him.”
Inside the ambulance, a JAG technician connected the drive to an isolated military laptop. Lines of encrypted data filled the screen.
Ethan regained consciousness as the sirens began.
His eyes focused slowly on me.
“You still look terrible,” he whispered.
I laughed despite everything.
“You’ve been legally dead for two years, and that’s your opening line?”
“I had others planned.”
My anger came back with sudden force.
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“Because Miller was watching you.”
“You let me bury an empty coffin.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
“You let Mom die believing she had lost you.”
“I know.”
The pain in his voice stopped me.
Ethan looked toward the laptop.
“The night of the ambush, I discovered Miller had been selling operational intelligence through civilian contractors. Vance handled domestic transfers. The enemy knew our route because Miller gave it to them.”
“Why were you on the surveillance footage?”
“I took the drive from Miller’s courier. The contact beside the bunker was an allied intelligence officer helping me disappear.”
“You could have come home.”
“No. Miller controlled the investigation. If I came back without the full network, he would call me the traitor. He did exactly that anyway.”
The technician interrupted us.
“Commander, the drive contains payment ledgers, mission alterations, satellite communications, and recorded calls.”
“Can you confirm authenticity?” Keene asked.
“Preliminary signatures match classified Defense Department encryption.”
Then another folder opened.
Its title was DOMESTIC CONTAINMENT.
Inside were photographs of me, my house, my bank, the diner, and Amelia meeting Sheriff Vance in a motel parking lot.
I stared at the screen.
There were audio files.
The technician played the most recent recording.
Amelia’s voice filled the ambulance.
“You promised Logan would only be embarrassed. You never said anyone would shoot at him.”
Vance answered, “He called JAG. That changed the arrangement.”
“What happens to me now?”
“That depends on whether you can get into his house before federal agents do.”
The recording ended.
Commander Keene looked at me.
“Your wife is moving against your property right now.”
I glanced at Ethan.
The medic pressed gauze to his wound.
“Go,” Ethan said. “I didn’t stay dead this long just to let them erase everything.”
May you like
Before I could answer, the laptop screen went black.
A remote deletion command had begun wiping the drive.
