The digital clock mounted above Judge Harrison’s mahogany bench seemed to mock me, its glowing red numbers bleeding away the seconds. / Chapter 8 / 20

Chapter 8 - THE SHADOW OF KANDARI slowly lowered the phone, my eyes locked on the veteran who had pulled me from a burning aircraft twelve years ago. The man who had just risked his entire career and defied standard military protocols to walk into a civilian courtroom on my behalf.

“That was my mother,” I said, my voice low and measured. “She’s out on bail.”

Carney didn't look surprised. He stepped further into the office, placing the coffee cup on the edge of the desk before resting his hands against the wooden surface. “Of course she is. People like Elaine Wright always find a way to secure temporary footing. But her corporate empire is gone. The federal asset freeze is absolute.”

“She said something before she hung up,” I continued, watching his face for any micro-expression, any flicker of guilt or deception. “She said my father didn't just build Titan Tactical Systems... she said he sold technology to both sides. And she said you knew about it.”

The silence that followed was heavy enough to crush bone.

For three seconds, Colonel Carney didn't move a muscle. His eyes, usually sharp and calculating, darkened into something ancient and unreadable. The air in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

Then, slowly, a faint, bitter smile touched the corner of his mouth.

“Your mother was a brilliant strategist when it came to manipulation, Avalon,” Carney said softly, picking up his coffee cup. “She survived twelve years by turning everyone around her into a weapon or a shield. But she always misunderstood the nature of the contracts in Kandar.”

“Explain it to me, Colonel,” I demanded, stepping closer to him. “Not as a subordinate. As an equal.”

Carney set his cup back down, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small, encrypted micro-chip—the exact duplicate of the one my father had hidden in the basement safe the night before he died.

“Your father didn't sell weapons to the enemy,” Carney said, his voice dropping into a harsh whisper. “He planted trojans inside the guidance systems of the drone chips we were forced to supply under government black-budgets to foreign intermediaries. He sabotaged their entire supply chain from the inside out so they could never be used against American troops.”

He looked straight into my eyes.

“Your unit wasn't ambushed in Kandar by bad luck, Avalon. Someone inside the Pentagon tipped off the enemy about the data-recovery mission. Someone who wanted those trojans found and destroyed.”

I felt a cold shiver run down my spine as the puzzle pieces finally slammed together with terrifying clarity.

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