Chapter 2 - The Fourth CallerAt Fairfax Hospital, Blair watched a nurse photograph Corinne's bruises for the medical record. No one asked the old woman to repeat her story before she was ready. Blair was grateful for that. She was not grateful for the ringing phone.

When Corinne asked for water, Blair held the paper cup while she drank. The act broke her heart. As a girl, Blair had watched her mother care for her father through an illness without a word of complaint. Corinne had built shelves, repaired plumbing, learned the names of every neighbor's children. Frail was not the same as foolish. Nolan had counted on strangers seeing gray hair and bruises and assuming confusion. Blair thought of the interviews she'd given about leadership: listen first, verify every claim, own mistakes. She wished she'd practiced those rules more carefully at home.

It was Nolan's sister, Elise.

"What have you done?" Elise demanded. "Nolan says you had him arrested."

"He hurt my mother."

"He said she confused him for a burglar. She has memory problems, Blair."

"Who told you she has memory problems?"

A pause. "Nolan. Everyone knows."

"My mother manages her own bills, volunteers twice a week, and beat me at chess on Sunday."

Elise lowered her voice. "Whatever this is, keep the military out of it."

The call ended.

Corinne sat beneath a thin hospital blanket. "You shouldn't have worn your uniform," she said.

"I came straight from duty."

"That's not what he wanted people to see."

Blair pulled a chair close. "Tell me about the folder."

Corinne stared at the curtain. "Your father kept records from his company. Contracts. Names. He said if the right people ever asked for them, we should call an attorney named Miriam Vale."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because he made me promise." Tears gathered. "I thought the danger ended when he died."

Blair's phone lit up. A blocked number had left a message during the ambulance ride.

A man's voice said, "Colonel Ashford, your husband wasn't supposed to leave your mother alive with that file. Tell her to stop talking."

The message clicked off.

Blair checked the time: 2:46 a.m. The police had already detained Nolan then. He couldn't have made that call.

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Someone else was watching.