Chapter 8 - The Colonel's Name
Olivia shoved Hale into the chair.
"Log in."
He glared at her. "You think it's me?"
"I think somebody wants me to think it's you. Help me prove them wrong."
His real credentials worked.
That meant the second session was a cloned certificate.
Ortiz isolated the connection.
"It's coming from headquarters wing. Third floor."
Ward grabbed his radio.
Olivia stopped him. "No broadcast. If they hear us coming, they wipe the machine."
They ran.
The third floor held legal affairs, procurement command, and the deputy commander's suite.
Olivia rounded the corner and saw a civilian technician leaving a records room.
He spotted them and sprinted.
Ward tackled him near the stairwell.
The man fought hard for someone wearing an IT badge.
Inside his jacket they found three cloned access cards and a device used to mimic authentication certificates.
"Name," Olivia demanded.
He said nothing.
Hale pulled the badge from his shirt.
"This ID is fake."
The technician smiled.
"So is half your base."
Before anyone could react, fire alarms began screaming.
Smoke rolled from the procurement records room.
Ortiz ran inside with an extinguisher while Olivia and Hale dragged burning boxes away from the wall.
The fire had started in one specific cabinet.
Contractor agreements.
Arden Tactical Systems.
Most pages were destroyed.
One folder survived inside a metal drawer.
Olivia opened it.
The contract was worth eighty-four million dollars.
Signed by Brigadier General Elias Voss.
And buried in the payment schedule was a consulting company called Northline Strategic Group.
Hale read the name twice.
"I know Northline."
"How?"
May you like
His face changed.
"Because Elias Voss's brother owns it."
