Chapter 14 - THE ENCRYPTION BREACH: WHY ETHAN AND THE CYBER SQUAD JUST ENTERED THE CHAT
I pulled my secure government satellite phone from my pocket, ignored the zip-tied operative sitting at our kitchen island, and tapped out a rapid, encrypted emergency code directly to my former commander at Joint Special Operations Command.
Within forty-five seconds, the secure terminal connected.
“Vance,” a deep, gravelly voice answered from the secure line. “Report, Major. You’re off the active roster.”
“General, we have a containment failure,” I said, my voice clipped and absolute. “Blackwood asset neutralized at my domicile attempting to retrieve scrubbed Caldwell assets. Intelligence confirms active leak inside the Pentagon operating under the alias Archon.”
Silence hung on the secure line for three long seconds.
“Archon,” the General repeated, his voice turning dangerously cold. “We’ve been hunting that ghost for five years. Are you certain?”
“Positive, sir,” I replied, looking down at Miller, who was now sweating profusely under my gaze. “He’s running contractor asset extractions to protect Victor Sterling’s international laundering network. And he has my civilian personnel file flagged.”
“Goddamn it,” the General cursed softly. “Major, your cover is compromised. Sterling now knows who you are. Which means you and your daughter are no longer safe in that suburb.”
I looked down the hallway toward Lily’s bedroom door, feeling a surge of fierce, protective rage rise from the depths of my soul.
Nobody—not corrupt financiers, not mercenary operatives, and certainly not an invisible Pentagon leak named Archon—threatened my daughter and lived to talk about it.
“With all due respect, General,” I said, my voice dropping into a register that made even the battle-hardened commander pause on the other end of the line, “my cover isn't the only thing that’s compromised. Archon’s operational security just failed because he sent an amateur to do a major’s job.”
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“What are your orders, Major?” the General asked quietly.
“Give me forty-eight hours,” I replied, turning my gaze back to Miller. “I’m going to use this prisoner to trace the satellite relay straight back to Archon’s terminal. And then we’re going to clean house.”
