Chapter 5 - The Shadow Government"The police?" My father let out a cold, humorless chuckle that sent a shiver down my spine. He reached into his tactical vest and pulled out a small, heavy black badge bearing no insignia, only a raised geometric seal. He dropped it onto the floor right in front of Marcus's bloody nose.
Marcus glanced down at it, and the color drained entirely from his face. Even in his drunken stupor, he recognized the Department of Defense Special Operations Executive seal.
"You think the local cops have jurisdiction here, son?" my father asked softly, stepping closer until he loomed over Marcus like a mountain. "You think you can beat, starve, and terrorize an American citizen—let alone my only daughter—and walk away because of a marriage certificate?"
"I... I didn't know..." Marcus choked out, trembling violently as he pressed his back against the baseboard. "She's my wife! Domestic disputes are a civil matter!"
"This isn't a domestic dispute," my father replied, his voice dropping an octave into a chilling baritone. "This is a termination of a threat."
He signaled to the two operators standing near the doorway. "Cuff him. Prep him for extraction."
"Extraction?" Marcus shrieked, panic turning his voice into a high-pitched squeal. "Where are you taking me? You can't kidnap me!"
"Kidnap?" My father smiled grimly. "Son, guys like you don't go to jail. People who put their hands on my daughter get classified. You're about to take a very long, very educational trip to a black site in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Let's see how tough you are when you're answering questions from interrogators who don't care if you ever see the sun again."
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As the operators hauled Marcus off the floor, binding his wrists behind his back with heavy-duty zip-ties, I watched from my father's arms. The crushing weight of five years of fear, abuse, and humiliation finally lifted off my chest.
He was crying now, begging for mercy, but nobody in the room blinked an eye.
