Chapter 4 - THE MISTRESS SPEAKSAcross the room, Vanessa Brooks realized the walls were closing in.
She grabbed her designer clutch from the bar, lowered her head, and tried to slip quietly toward the grand exit doors before anyone noticed her departure.
She didn't make it three steps.
"Stop her," General Hale commanded without even turning around.
Two Military Police officers in crisp dress uniforms, who had quietly stationed themselves by the ballroom doors when the general entered, stepped forward and blocked Vanessa’s path.
"Excuse me! Let me pass!" Vanessa snapped, her sophisticated socialite facade cracking instantly. "I am a guest of this establishment! You have no right to touch me!"
"Civilian contractor Vanessa Brooks, corporate director of Vanguard Logistics Solutions," one of the MPs stated flatly, pulling a pair of steel zip-ties from his belt. "You are detained under federal warrant for wire fraud, embezzlement, and conspiracy against United States military logistics."
Vanessa shrieked as her arms were pulled behind her back, the expensive cream-colored dress twisting awkwardly as the zip-ties clicked shut around her wrists.
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The last remaining shred of plausible deniability Ethan possessed evaporated right before his eyes.
Linda buried her face in her hands, weeping loudly now, completely ignoring the stares of the high-society guests who had spent the last two hours kissing up to her.
