Chapter 9 - The Man Who Closed the Case

Agent Reed met them in a crowded diner forty miles from Fort Gray. He wore a faded ball cap and ordered black coffee before he introduced himself, as though a cup could make what was happening normal.

“The case was closed because our lead witness disappeared,” Reed said.

“Daniel,” Mara answered.

Reed nodded. “He contacted us with evidence that defense equipment was being routed through Meridian. Then your command reported him dead. We were told his original allegation was unreliable.”

“Who told you?”

“Colonel Adrian Sloane.”

Mara knew that name. Sloane commanded Fort Gray's logistics group and had delivered a speech at Daniel's memorial. He'd put his hand on her mother's shoulder and called Daniel a hero.

Naomi leaned over the booth. “Rourke reports to him.”

“And Vale funds a veterans charity Sloane chairs,” Reed said. “We suspected a conflict. We couldn't prove coordination.”

Mara placed the bluebird invoices on the table. Reed examined a procurement code and straightened.

“Where did these come from?”

“Daniel hid them before they took him.”

“This is a shipment number. It matches equipment we were told had been destroyed in transit.”

Reed made two calls. Within minutes he arranged a protective team for Mara's family, though Ellen remained a hostage. He insisted they must establish the holding site before attempting contact with the kidnappers.

Mara showed him Northwatch Annex on a map.

Reed's expression tightened. “That facility doesn't officially exist under that name.”

“Funny how many things don't,” Mara said.

They were leaving the diner when Mara noticed a dark sedan across the street. It had been parked near the gas station that morning. She reached for Reed's sleeve.

“Don't look now. We're being followed.”

The sedan's driver's window lowered. A camera appeared, then disappeared.

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Reed moved them back inside. His phone vibrated with a message from the agency's duty desk.

He read it twice before speaking. “Someone just canceled my authority to work this investigation.”