Chapter 6 - The Sins of Red Squadron
We drove for four hours until we reached an abandoned logging cabin deep in the Appalachian Mountains. It was one of Elias's off-the-grid safehouses.
Inside, the air was stale, but there was a generator, a wood stove, and a secure laptop.
While Elias secured the perimeter, I sat at the wooden table with Maya. I made her instant hot chocolate using a camp stove.
"I'm sorry," I told her, watching her stare at the mug. "I stole your normal life from you. I just wanted you to have a chance to go to prom, to worry about grades instead of guns."
Maya looked up at me. Her tears had dried, replaced by a hardened resolve that looked exactly like her father.
"Did this man, Vance... did he pull the trigger?" she asked.
"No," I answered honestly. "But he sold our patrol routes to a local warlord for ten million dollars. He set the ambush. He might as well have pulled the trigger."
"Then don't apologize," Maya said, her voice steady. "Finish it."
A rush of pride swelled in my chest. She was her father's daughter, through and through.
Elias walked in, locking the heavy deadbolt behind him. He booted up the secure laptop.
"Let's see what cost Marcus his life," Elias muttered.
I handed him the micro-SD card. He plugged it in, running it through a decryption software he'd brought from his CIA days. It took twenty agonizing minutes of progress bars before the files finally opened.
The screen flooded with bank transfers, offshore account numbers, and email transcripts. It was a complete, undeniable paper trail linking Jonathan Vance to the sale of classified military intelligence, weapons smuggling, and the deaths of twenty American soldiers.
"It's all here," Elias said, scrolling through the documents. "If we get this to the right people at the Pentagon, Vance goes to federal prison for the rest of his life. Or worse."
"He knows that," I said, loading a fresh magazine into my Glock. "That's why he won't stop hunting us. As long as he's breathing, we're targets."
Elias looked at me, a dangerous smile spreading across his face.
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"So, what's the play, Commander?"
I stood up, sliding the weapon into its holster. "We stop running. We find out where Vance is commanding his men from tonight, and we bring the war to his doorstep."
