Chapter 4 - THE SHADOW IN THE HALLWAYGeneral Vance turned his back completely on Elowen and my mother.
He walked directly across the polished marble floor, his boots striking the ground with heavy, deliberate precision. The guests parted before him like waves before a battleship, terrified to be in his line of sight.
He walked straight past the front tables, past the giant banner celebrating “Major Elowen Whitlock,” and stopped right at the entrance of the service hallway.
Two feet away from me.
My mother hurried after him, her voice pitched in rising panic. “General Vance, please! You’re making a dreadful mistake! That’s just Maren! She has nothing to do with this! She’s just a clerk—she works in some boring backend administrative office, she doesn't even wear a uniform to parties—”
General Vance raised a single white-gloved hand, silencing my mother instantly without even turning his head.
He looked down at me, taking in my plain dark blazer, my black slacks, my low heels, and the quiet, unyielding posture of a woman who had spent a decade operating in classified, high-stakes military sectors where titles mattered less than execution.
Then, slowly, deliberately, General Vance brought his right hand up to the brim of his cap and snapped a crisp, razor-sharp military salute.
May you like
His voice rang through the dead silence of the ballroom:
“Colonel Maren Whitlock. The Department of Defense Inspector General’s office awaits your command.”
