Chapter 10 - The Phone Call From Washington
At 0610 the next morning, Colonel Hale received a call from a major general’s office.
By 0630, he was ordered to “avoid public escalation” until senior leadership reviewed the facts.
By 0645, Captain Reed was told not to contact outside media and to coordinate all public statements through garrison affairs.
By 0700, everyone involved understood what those polite words could become if handled badly.
Delay.
Silence.
Lena sat across from Hale in his office.
“Are they shutting it down?” she asked.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Hale looked tired. “No.”
He folded his hands. “There are legitimate reasons to control information during an investigation.”
“And illegitimate ones.”
“Yes.”
Lena looked toward the window.
“You know what scares me now, sir?”
“What?”
“Not Vaughn. Not Colter. Not even Kessler.”
She looked back at him.
“I’m scared of people saying, ‘This is complicated,’ until everybody gets tired enough to stop asking.”
He simply said, “Then don’t stop asking.”
Captain Reed entered with new information.
Kessler had gone to Washington to meet a retired lieutenant general named Howard Rusk, now a consultant for several defense firms.
But he had influence.
And years earlier, he had been Colonel Hale’s brigade commander.
Lena saw the recognition immediately.
“You know him.”
Rusk called ten minutes later.
Hale put the call on speaker.
“Marcus,” Rusk said warmly, as if they were old friends discussing dinner. “You’ve got a mess down there.”
“I have an investigation.”
“You have a young specialist making your whole post look out of control.”
Hale’s voice cooled. “A specialist was targeted and records were destroyed.”
Rusk sighed. “And if every ugly barracks dispute becomes a national scandal, nobody wins.”
“Who said anything about national?”
A pause.
Too long.
“General, how do you know what evidence we have?”
The line went quiet.
Rusk recovered. “People talk.”
“Apparently.”
After the call ended, Reed checked the access list for the investigative briefing packet.
Only six people had permission.
One of them had opened the file at 02:13 that morning.
May you like
From an office inside Fort Halbrook headquarters.
The user account belonged to Command Sergeant Major Ellis.
