Chapter 6 - The Leak Inside the Investigation
The FBI did not tell us who had known about the cabin operation.
Agent Brooks only said the list was short.
That frightened me more.
The Prescotts were not reacting blindly.
They were being informed.
Emily was moved to a secured floor under an alias.
Claire was escorted out of Mercy General after her suspension.
Before she left, she hugged Emily.
"You survive this."
Emily nodded through tears.
"So do you."
Claire smiled.
"I've spent twenty-two years dealing with surgeons."
"It takes more than the Prescott family to scare me."
That was the first time Emily laughed since I arrived.
It lasted only a second.
But it mattered.
Calvin continued examining the card.
The deeper he searched, the worse the files became.
The Prescott Foundation had funded shelters.
Schools.
Cancer programs.
Veterans' charities.
Publicly, it looked generous.
Privately, portions of those donations moved through consulting firms controlled by associates.
Those firms then made payments to people whose names appeared in the Blue Room files.
It was not proof that every donation was corrupt.
But enough transactions were suspicious to interest federal investigators.
Then Calvin found the file that frightened Rachel.
HART, VICTORIA.
My name.
Emily looked at me.
"Why would they have a file on you?"
I already knew the answer.
"Because Ethan married you."
The folder began three years earlier.
There were photographs of me entering Army installations.
Copies of publicly available service biographies.
Addresses from old assignments.
Articles mentioning units I had commanded.
Photographs of Emily and me having lunch.
They had investigated me before Ethan proposed.
Rachel opened a spreadsheet.
At the top were two words.
RISK ASSESSMENT.
My name had a rating beside it.
HIGH.
Margaret's notes followed.
MOTHER DIFFICULT TO PRESSURE.
LIMIT EMILY'S CONTACT.
AVOID DIRECT CONFRONTATION UNLESS NECESSARY.
I stared at the screen.
Emily covered her mouth.
"They isolated me because of you."
"No."
I turned toward her.
"They isolated you because they wanted control."
I pointed at the screen.
"This proves they were planning it."
Another document contained Ethan's messages with Margaret.
Emily calls Victoria too often.
Reduce opportunities.
Tell her Victoria's deployments make her unreliable.
Make Emily believe mother judges marriage.
Emily began crying.
For almost two years, she had called me less and less.
I had assumed marriage and work were keeping her busy.
I had even worried I was becoming intrusive.
Now I understood.
Ethan had been removing me from her life one misunderstanding at a time.
The realization hurt more than Margaret's threats.
I had missed it.
I had accepted the distance.
I had believed the excuses.
Emily looked at me.
"Mom, I'm sorry."
I held her face gently.
"Never apologize for surviving."
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
This time there was a photograph.
Claire Watkins was walking across the employee parking lot.
The photograph had been taken seconds earlier.
Beneath it were four words.
SHE SHOULD HAVE STAYED QUIET.
I immediately called Claire.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
Agent Brooks called hospital security.
Claire had left five minutes earlier.
Agent Lane raced downstairs.
I called Claire a third time.
This time someone answered.
There was no voice.
Only breathing.
Then a man's voice whispered.
"Colonel."
"You are making this expensive."
The call ended.
Rachel stared at me.
Agent Brooks was already tracing it.
Then Claire called from another number.
Her voice shook.
"I'm okay."
I closed my eyes.
"Where are you?"
"In a pharmacy."
"What happened?"
"A black SUV followed me."
Emily went pale.
Claire continued.
"I ran inside."
"There are cameras everywhere."
Agent Brooks dispatched officers.
Calvin suddenly spoke.
"Victoria."
His voice had changed.
He had found something.
A document titled CONTINGENCIES.
Under CLAIRE WATKINS was an instruction.
DISCREDIT OR REMOVE.
Under EMILY PRESCOTT was another.
COMMIT IF POSSIBLE.
Under my name were only three words.
DO NOT THREATEN.
Rachel looked toward me.
"Interesting."
I shook my head.
"No."
I scrolled farther.
There was a final note.
IF HART OBTAINS RUN CARD, ACTIVATE CROWN.
Emily whispered.
"What's Crown?"
Calvin searched.
A new encrypted directory appeared.
CROWN.
It required a password.
Then my phone rang.
Ethan Prescott.
I answered.
May you like
His first words were calm.
"You need the password, don't you?"
