Chapter 9 - The Witness at the Bus Station
Angela Brooks chose the public waiting area of a downtown bus station, under cameras and beside an all-night coffee shop. Mara brought a trusted attorney from a veterans legal clinic as an independent witness, after confirming the arrangement would not interfere with formal investigators.
Angela was forty, with close-cropped black hair and a scar near her chin. She held a canvas bag against her knees.
“I saw the cafeteria clip,” Angela said before anyone sat down. “They sent it around to make her look weak. That was a mistake.”
“Why?” Mara asked.
“Because I recognized Voss. He did the same thing to anybody who questioned the convoy report.”
Angela described the first days after the blast. She had recorded a medical evacuation timeline and a list of vehicle positions. Then a superior told her to remove a line noting that Sutter's truck passed the damaged convoy without stopping.
“Who gave the order?”
“I won't guess. I can tell the investigators what I wrote, where I stored it, and who contacted me.”
She unzipped her bag and withdrew a sealed document sleeve. It held copies of an old incident log and a small storage device.
“I kept this because I thought I'd lose my mind if I let them rewrite that day,” she said.
Mara didn't take the device. “Let's log it and turn it over through counsel.”
Angela's fingers trembled. “You think they'll really protect me?”
“I can't promise that. I can promise I won't ask you to stand alone.”
A television above the ticket counter switched to breaking local coverage: Harbor Shield announced a new multimillion-dollar donation pledge for transitional housing. Sutter stood onstage beside Price. Voss stood behind them.
Angela made a noise like a breath knocked out of her.
“Price,” she whispered.
“You know him?”
“He was the officer who interviewed me after the rescue. He told me the notes were classified, then handed me a replacement statement to sign.”
Mara looked at the screen. Price was smiling politely for cameras, one hand resting on Sutter's shoulder.
The attorney took notes.
Angela whispered, “There's another thing. Sutter wasn't the only one getting paid.”
May you like
She slid across a second sheet. It listed repeated transfers to a consulting company.
The registered agent's name was familiar: Calvin Price.
