Chapter 16 - The Man Across the Street
Police reached my father’s house in six minutes.
The man from the SUV did not run.
He was a private investigator.
Licensed.
Former military.
And hired forty-eight hours earlier by a law firm representing Lieutenant Colonel Vance.
His explanation was simple.
Captain Ward’s response was simpler.
“At a witness’s private residence?”
The investigator asked for counsel.
“Tell them I’m seventy-one, not dead,” he said over the phone.
“Dad.”
“I saw his license plate.”
“Dad.”
“And I have a shovel.”
“Please stop helping.”
He laughed.
I did not.
For the first time all week, I was scared in a way the mat had never scared me.
You saw them.
You measured distance.
You moved.
Ward saw it.
“You can step back.”
“No.”
“Avery.”
“No.”
She studied me.
“Then understand the next phase is not about proving Briggs is a bully. It’s about proving retaliation.”
“I understand.”
That afternoon, military legal counsel ordered all relevant digital accounts preserved.
By evening, cyber security recovered part of the remote access trail.
The login had not come from Vance.
Captain Mason’s terminal.
Again.
“I was with investigators at three twelve.”
Hayes confirmed it.
“So who used your office?” Ward asked.
Mason shook his head.
Then he stopped.
“What?” I asked.
“My spare key.”
“Who has it?”
He looked toward the hallway.
I had spoken to her twice.
Ward sent an investigator to find her.
“Her room is empty.”
“Where is she?”
“No idea.”
Her phone was off.
Her car was gone.
Then Hayes’ radio crackled.
A gate guard had seen Price leave the compound forty minutes earlier.
She was carrying two duffel bags.
Ward swore.
I asked, “Why would she help Vance?”
Nobody answered.
Then Mason sat down slowly.
“I know why.”
We turned toward him.
May you like
He looked ashamed.
“Because Vance is her father.”
