Chapter 11 - One Shot
Sloan’s pistol cleared the holster.
Delcourt fired first.
The shot struck the dirt beside Sloan’s boot.
“DROP IT!”
Sloan froze.
Every weapon on the range pointed toward him.
His pistol hit the ground.
Varenne backed away.
General Cutter raised both hands.
“This is insanity.”
Hale walked toward them.
“No, General.”
Her voice was cold.
“This is an investigation.”
Cutter looked at the MPs.
“Arrest Colonel Hale.”
Nobody moved.
“I gave you an order.”
An MP captain answered.
“Sir, we have written authority from Defense Criminal Investigative Service to secure this site.”
Cutter’s jaw tightened.
Inside Building C, a crash sounded.
Thomas ran.
He kicked open the door.
Inès was on the floor fighting the guard who had been holding her.
Thomas grabbed the man and slammed him against the wall.
Inès kicked the chair away.
“Took you long enough.”
Thomas cut the restraints.
“You okay?”
“My wrists hurt.”
“Anything else?”
“My pride.”
“You can survive that.”
They stepped outside.
Inès saw Cutter.
Her face went blank.
“General?”
Hale nodded.
“It goes higher than we thought.”
But Cutter recovered quickly.
“You have nothing connecting me to theft.”
Léa looked at the fake ledger in his hands.
“You came here personally to retrieve evidence.”
“A classified military document.”
“From officers conducting an investigation you authorized?”
Cutter smiled.
“Be very careful, Lieutenant.”
Léa almost laughed.
That threat sounded familiar now.
Varenne suddenly spoke.
“He ordered it.”
Everyone turned.
Cutter’s expression changed.
Varenne pointed at him.
“All of it.”
“Marc,” Cutter said quietly.
“You said nobody would get hurt.”
Cutter stared.
“Think about what you’re saying.”
“Mercer nearly died.”
“You signed that report.”
“You ordered me to.”
“You’re confused.”
Varenne laughed bitterly.
“Now I’m confused?”
Cutter moved closer.
“You are under extreme stress.”
“There it is.”
Varenne looked at Léa.
“That’s how he does it.”
Cutter’s voice sharpened.
“Be quiet.”
But Varenne had crossed the line.
Two years of fear seemed to break at once.
“He told us readiness numbers could not drop before the appropriations review.”
Hale’s face hardened.
Varenne continued.
“We were short on parts. Cutter’s people had already sold replacements through Kestrel.”
Cutter shook his head.
“Ridiculous.”
“Sloan changed the maintenance database.”
Sloan shouted, “Shut up!”
Varenne turned on him.
“You planted that drive in Beaumont’s quarters!”
“And you told me to!”
Silence.
Sloan realized what he had said.
Thomas slowly smiled.
“Thirty witnesses would have been nice.”
He pointed toward Hale’s satellite phone.
“But federal investigators listening live works too.”
Sloan went pale.
Cutter remained calm.
Too calm.
“You think a confused statement under coercion proves anything?”
“No,” Léa said.
She looked at Delcourt.
“But the backup might.”
Cutter’s eyes moved to him.
“What backup?”
Delcourt smiled for the first time.
“The one from the archive room.”
Cutter’s face lost all color.
Delcourt continued.
“You thought the fire destroyed the server.”
He took a small black device from his pocket.
“It didn’t.”
Léa stared at him.
“What’s on it?”
“Every administrative change made to the maintenance system.”
“How far back?”
“Six years.”
Varenne closed his eyes.
Sloan whispered, “No.”
Delcourt looked at Cutter.
“Every login.”
Then at Sloan.
“Every deleted file.”
Then at Varenne.
“Every falsified inspection.”
Cutter suddenly lunged toward him.
The MPs restrained him.
Delcourt did not move.
He looked at Léa.
“And one more thing.”
“What?”
“The video from the night Mercer got hurt.”
Léa frowned.
“We already have the mechanic video.”
“Not that one.”
Delcourt inserted the backup device into an investigator’s laptop.
A video loaded.
Training Range Two.
20:02.
Fifteen minutes before Mercer’s accident.
Vehicle 4417 sat under a light.
A man walked toward it.
He opened the maintenance panel.
Léa stared.
The image was grainy.
May you like
But the face was unmistakable.
Lieutenant Colonel Marc Varenne.
