Chapter 8 - The Voice After the Fire
The recording began with wind and a helicopter in the distance. Then Daniel Carter spoke, coughing so hard Emily gripped the table.
"The order came from above Mercer," Daniel said. "Tell Ruth I stayed with the men. Tell Emily I—"
The audio broke. When it returned, someone else was speaking.
"You need to sign the revised statement," the unfamiliar man said. "It's the only way your family gets taken care of."
Daniel's answer came after a long silence. "My family doesn't need a lie."
Emily had imagined her father's last words in a hundred ways. Hearing his real voice made the room spin. She pushed the headphones away and walked into the corridor. Lena followed but didn't touch her.
"I thought I'd feel better knowing," Emily whispered.
"Knowing isn't the same as healing."
They replayed the file carefully. The unknown speaker had mentioned a project code, GREEN LANTERN. No one in the public report referred to it. A procurement record tied that code to emergency transportation contracts in the region, approved the same month as the convoy's destruction.
Mercer had supervised the route, but the contracts were approved by then-Brigadier General Victor Hale, now retired and sitting on three corporate boards. One company had been paid for protective vehicles that investigators couldn't find in inventory. It had also billed for maintenance on the convoy's surviving trucks.
"Why would somebody risk lives over invoices?" Emily asked.
"We don't know that they did," Lena said. "But the overlap gives us a reason to look."
At home, Ruth played the snippet containing Daniel's voice once. She placed a hand over her mouth. "That was him," she said. "He used to sound exactly like that when he knew someone was doing the wrong thing."
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A message arrived from Vance. Investigators had located Victor Hale for an interview. Hale was willing to talk, but only in person.
The location he chose was a private airport hangar. And he insisted Emily come alone.
