Chapter 5 - The Decryption
Deep inside the Pentagon, I sat alone in a sterile room, the hum of computer servers the only sound. My Pelican case sat open on the table. I pulled out the small, velvet-lined jewelry box and stared at the silver flash drive nestled beside my wedding ring.
My hands trembled. Not from fear, but from the overwhelming presence of Marcus. It felt as though he was in the room with me, guiding my hands.
I plugged the drive into the secure terminal. A red prompt appeared on the screen: Dual Authentication Required.
General Vance entered the room, carrying a secure biometric scanner that held the digital imprint of Marcus's thumbprint, recovered from the battlefield. He connected it to the terminal.
"Ready, Colonel?" he asked gently.
"Ready, Sir."
I typed in the password. It wasn't a complex military code. It was the date we found out we were pregnant. 081425.
Vance pressed the biometric scanner.
The screen flashed green. Authentication Accepted.
Files began to cascade across the screen. Blueprints, GPS coordinates, bank transfers, and audio logs. But there was one file labeled simply: Evie.
I clicked it.
A video opened. Marcus's face appeared on the screen. He was sitting in a dimly lit bunker somewhere overseas. He looked exhausted, dirt smeared across his cheek, but his eyes were as bright and loving as the day I married him.
"Hey, Evie," his recorded voice rasped, breaking my heart all over again. "If you're watching this, it means I didn't make it back for Thanksgiving. I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry."
A tear escaped my eye, tracking hotly down my cheek. I placed a hand over my stomach.
"I found the weapons, Evie," Marcus continued, leaning closer to the camera. "But I also found the buyer. It's an inside job. Deputy Director Miller from Defense Intelligence. He sold us out. He’s been funneling classified tech to the syndicate for years. The evidence is all in this drive. I locked it down so Miller couldn't get it."
Marcus smiled, a tired, beautiful smile. "Take him down, Colonel. Show them why they should never mess with my wife. I love you. Tell our little one about me. I'll be watching over you both. Always."
The screen went black.
I sat in silence for a long moment. The grief that had been suffocating me for seven months suddenly crystallized into something else. Something sharp, focused, and utterly lethal.
I stood up, wiping the single tear from my face. I turned to General Vance, who was staring at the screen in shock. Deputy Director Miller was one of the highest-ranking intelligence officers in the country.
"General," I said, my voice echoing with absolute authority. "Lock down the Pentagon. Nobody gets in or out. I want Deputy Director Miller in an interrogation room in exactly five minutes. If he resists, shoot him in the leg."
Vance smiled grimly. "Yes, Colonel."
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The operation was swift. Miller, unaware that the decryption key had been found, was intercepted in the cafeteria. When he was dragged into the SCIF and confronted with Marcus's video and the bank transfers, he crumbled instantly. He confessed to treason, begging for a plea deal that he would never get.
Justice for Marcus was swift, absolute, and merciless. But I wasn't done yet.
