CHAPTER 7 — THE MAN WHO ORDERED HER DEATH
By sunrise, Falcon Base belonged to investigators.
Military police sealed every hangar.
Federal agents photographed every shell casing.
News helicopters circled overhead, broadcasting only one confirmed fact:
A classified security incident had occurred on a U.S. military installation.
No one knew the truth.
Not yet.
Inside a secure conference room, General Marcus Holloway sat handcuffed to a steel chair.
His uniform was stained with dust and blood, but his expression remained almost amused.
Nathan Cross entered alone.
The guards closed the door behind him.
For nearly a minute, neither man spoke.
Finally, Holloway smiled.
"You always were too sentimental."
Nathan placed the encrypted drive on the table.
"You murdered children."
"I built soldiers."
"You stole lives."
"I protected a nation."
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"You ordered them buried alive."
Holloway leaned forward.
"No."
"I obeyed the order."
Nathan froze.
"What order?"
"The order from the man you never questioned."
Silence filled the room.
Holloway laughed quietly.
"You still think I created Project Vulture."
"I didn't."
"I inherited it."
Nathan felt the room spin.
"There was someone above you?"
"There always was."
Holloway nodded toward the encrypted drive.
"Open the final folder."
"You'll finally meet the man who destroyed both our lives."
Nathan inserted the drive into a secure laptop.
A single classified file appeared.
AUTHORIZED BY: COMMANDER AURORA
No photograph.
No fingerprints.
No military record.
Only a digital signature.
A name no intelligence database recognized.
Evelyn, watching through the observation window, whispered to herself.
"I know that name..."
Then her face turned pale.
"I've heard that voice before."
Not in a briefing.
May you like
Not in a mission.
In her nightmares.
