Chapter 4 - THE FRIEND AT THE BARBECUE

I remembered Victor Hale immediately.

Tall. Charming. Expensive watch.

He had spent most of the barbecue asking questions.

Where had I been stationed?

How difficult was intelligence work?

Did people really have separate secure networks?

Ryan kept laughing.

“Grace can’t tell you anything.”

Victor smiled.

“I’m just curious.”

At the time, I thought nothing of it.

Major Ellis pulled Victor’s history.

Former defense subcontractor.

Clearance revoked.

Civil penalty for improper handling of sensitive material.

Then he showed me a photograph.

Victor and Ryan entering a sports bar together two months earlier.

“You already had them under review?”

“Victor was under review.”

My pulse quickened.

“Ryan?”

“He became interesting when he began meeting Victor regularly.”

“How regularly?”

“Seven documented meetings.”

I sat very still.

“What are you telling me?”

“I’m telling you we don’t know yet.”

That answer was professional.

My phone buzzed.

Ryan.

Then again.

And again.

Finally, a text:

THE CARDS AREN’T WORKING. FIX IT NOW.

Another:

MOM’S PRESCRIPTION GOT DECLINED.

Then:

STOP PLAYING GAMES.

I replied once.

Use your own money.

YOU’RE MY WIFE. YOUR MONEY IS OUR MONEY.

I handed the phone to Ellis.

He read it.

“Do not alert him to the investigation.”

“I won’t.”

“Can you safely return home?”

“No.”

He nodded.

“Good answer.”

Military legal assistance coordinated temporary lodging while Sarah filed for a protective order.

By noon, I had signed more forms than I had during my promotion.

By three, Ryan called my commander’s office demanding to speak to me.

He told the receptionist I was “emotionally unstable.”

By four, Linda posted a photograph of me online.

My shaved head.

My uniform.

Caption:

THIS IS WHAT THE ARMY DOES TO WOMEN WHO FORGET THEIR FAMILIES.

Then one comment appeared beneath it from Victor Hale.

Some officers are more valuable than they realize.

Major Ellis read the sentence twice.

May you like

My Son Sat There While His Wife Slapped My 4-Year-Old Granddaughter Hold...

MY SON WATCHED HIS WIFE HIT MY FOUR-YEAR-OLD GRANDDAUGHTER—BUT WHAT LILY WHISPERED NEXT MADE MY BLOOD RUN COLD.My four-year-old gr...

**My Wife Secretly Unplugged the Nursery Camera, Then Approached My 6-Mo...

My Wife Secretly Unplugged the Nursery Camera—Then I Saw Her Standing Over My 6-Month-Old Son With a Red-Hot Iron. But What She Sa...

I Came Home Early and Found My 5-Year-Old Daughter Eating Scraps Beside...

I thought I was coming home to an ordinary dinner.Instead, I found my five-year-old daughter sitting on the kitchen floor beside t...

Then he looked at me.

“We need to search your house.”