Chapter 11 - The Fighter Who Stopped Laughing
The young fighter who recognized Miller at the gym was named Evan Pierce.
Twenty-four.
Former Marine.
Amateur welterweight.
He asked to speak to Jack after Dustin's arrest.
They met at a quiet diner.
Evan looked nervous.
"I should've said something earlier."
"About what?"
"The women."
Jack waited.
"I saw things."
"What things?"
"Girls crying in Dalton's office. People getting paid after private sessions."
"Why stay?"
Evan looked ashamed.
"I thought it was gambling."
"That wasn't enough?"
"I needed the gym."
Jack understood more than Evan expected.
Young athletes often tolerated bad environments because dreams made excuses sound reasonable.
"What changed?"
"Dustin."
"What about him?"
"He bragged."
"About Hannah?"
Evan nodded.
"He told us his girlfriend's dad was some washed-up Marine."
Jack almost smiled.
"Accurate enough."
Evan shook his head.
"No."
"What?"
"He knew exactly who you were."
Jack leaned closer.
"How?"
"Coach showed us old training footage."
"Of me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He said you were an example of outdated military thinking."
Jack laughed softly.
Rick had turned resentment into curriculum.
Evan continued.
"There was another video."
"What?"
"You training a guy named Ethan Cole."
Jack became still.
"When?"
"Maybe late nineties."
"What did Rick say?"
"That Cole betrayed people who made him rich."
Jack frowned.
Evan lowered his voice.
"Then Dustin said something weird."
"What?"
"He said Cole wasn't dead."
Jack felt cold.
"Exact words."
Evan thought.
"He said, 'Dead men don't send emails.'"
Jack stared.
"When?"
"Two months ago."
"Did Rick respond?"
"He told Dustin to shut up."
Laura was called.
Within hours investigators reviewed Dustin's email records.
One encrypted account contained messages from someone using the name ECole.
Most were deleted.
One survived.
Stop using Miller's daughter. This was never the agreement.
Jack read it twice.
Hannah sat beside him.
"Ethan?"
"Maybe."
She frowned.
"Your trainee who's supposed to be dead?"
"Yes."
Laura continued.
Another message from Dustin:
You had your chance. Rick wants Miller broken.
Reply:
Rick wants revenge. Mercer wants the file. Those are different things.
Jack looked up.
"Whoever wrote this knew the operation."
Anthony, sitting across the room under supervision, whispered:
"Ethan."
Laura looked at him.
"You sound certain."
"I know how he wrote."
Jack turned.
"You stayed in contact?"
"No."
"Then how?"
Anthony hesitated.
"We worked together after the Marines."
Jack felt another betrayal.
"You knew Ethan was alive?"
"I suspected."
"You attended his memorial."
"I believed he died."
"Then when did you suspect?"
"Three years later."
"And said nothing?"
Anthony looked ashamed.
"He was hiding for a reason."
Jack stood.
Everybody around him seemed to possess pieces of his life.
Rick.
Anthony.
Ethan.
Mercer.
Hannah had paid the price.
Jack was finished being patient with secrets.
"Find him."
Laura said:
"We're trying."
Jack looked at Anthony.
"No. He finds Ethan."
Anthony shook his head.
"I don't know where he is."
"Then find someone who does."
Anthony studied him.
"You sound like the old instructor."
"No."
Jack leaned closer.
"The old instructor would've already decided you were lying."
"And the new one?"
"Is giving you one chance."
Anthony looked away.
Then said:
"There's a church outside Jacksonville."
Laura waited.
"Ethan's mother is buried there."
"So?"
"If he's alive, he visits."
"How do you know?"
"Because I saw fresh flowers every year."
Jack's expression changed.
"When?"
"March seventeenth."
"Her birthday?"
Anthony nodded.
May you like
Jack checked the calendar.
March seventeenth was tomorrow.
