Chapter 12 - The Man Above The General
Paul Rourke arrived that afternoon.
He did not come in uniform. He wore a dark suit, a silver tie, and the relaxed expression of a man who expected every room to make space for him.
He brought two attorneys and refused to answer questions until he had reviewed the evidence.
General Price gave him the time.
While the lawyers spoke, Mercer pulled me into the corridor.
“Rourke's office has requested the report be classified under a different authority.”
“Can they do that?”
“They can try. The panel has already placed the evidence under independent control.”
“Then what are you worried about?”
“Rourke can influence budgets, appointments, and careers. He has spent twenty years building a network.”
I thought of the soldiers who had been told to stay quiet because they needed their paychecks.
“Then we make sure the families hear the truth before he can bury it.”
Mercer nodded.
When we returned, Rourke was speaking.
“This investigation has become a personal campaign,” he said. “Lieutenant Colonel Morgan appears to have a grievance against General Hayes.”
General Price looked at him. “Do you have evidence of that?”
“I have concerns about her judgment.”
“That's not evidence.”
Rourke smiled. “The Army cannot function if every officer who dislikes a decision turns it into a scandal.”
I leaned toward the microphone.
“Sir, I didn't dislike a decision. I reported a defective vehicle. Then I reported that the record had been falsified. The vehicle caught fire. Three soldiers died.”
Rourke looked at me as if I were a child who had interrupted a meeting.
“Tragic, certainly. But accidents happen.”
Maria Ortega rose from the family row.
“My husband didn't die in an accident,” she said.
The room fell silent.
Rourke turned toward her.
“Ma'am, I understand your grief—”
“No, you don't. You don't know his daughter's name. You don't know he called me every night. You don't know he promised to teach her to ride a bike when he got home.”
Her voice shook, but she didn't sit down.
“You signed papers that said his truck was safe. Was it?”
Rourke's smile disappeared.
General Price called a recess.
As the panel stood, an investigator approached Mercer and whispered in his ear.
Mercer looked at me.
“Rourke's office just reported a missing file.”
“What file?”
“The original order authorizing the parts transfer.”
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
“Where was it kept?”
May you like
“In the office of the Secretary's chief counsel.”
And the access log showed it had been opened by someone using my credentials.
