Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
The scream wasn't loud enough to carry beyond the driveway.
But I knew my sister's voice.
I had known it since she was a newborn, since the first night our mother brought her home and placed her in my arms.
And I had never heard Amanda make a sound like that.
"General, I have a situation."
"What kind?"
"Unknown. My sister."
"Keep the line open if you can."
I shoved my phone into my jacket pocket and pulled open the front door.
Amanda was standing beside the dining table.
One hand covered her mouth.
The other pointed toward our father.
Charles Carter had collapsed into his chair.
His bourbon glass lay shattered across the hardwood floor.
For half a second, I thought he was having a stroke.
Then I saw the blood on his palm.
"Everybody move back."
My command cut through the room.
I reached Dad in three strides.
He was conscious.
Angry, terrified, and conscious.
"Don't touch me," he snapped.
I ignored him.
A shallow cut ran across his right palm.
The broken glass had caught him when he stumbled against the table.
Amanda was already kneeling beside him.
"His pulse is fast," she said.
"Because he's scared."
"His breathing—"
"Regular."
I took the clean field dressing from my medical pouch.
Dad stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
"Same place I got the blood on my sleeve."
I pressed gauze against his hand.
He winced.
"That hurts."
"Hold pressure."
Amanda examined his face.
"Dad, look at me. Are you dizzy?"
"No."
"Chest pain?"
"No."
"Any difficulty breathing?"
"Just get this ridiculous woman away from me."
Amanda closed her eyes.
I finished wrapping his hand.
"There. You're going to live."
One of the guests laughed nervously.
Dad didn't.
He pulled his hand away.
"I don't need your sarcasm."
"Then don't ask for medical help from someone you just called an embarrassment."
A shocked silence followed.
Amanda looked at me.
For the first time that evening, a tiny smile crossed her face.
Then it disappeared.
"Evelyn," she whispered, "it wasn't just Dad."
"What?"
She glanced toward the hallway.
"Richard."
My attention sharpened.
"What about him?"
"When you went outside, he followed you."
"I know."
"No. He went toward the side door. I saw him checking his phone."
"Did you hear anything?"
Amanda nodded.
"He said your name."
A strange stillness settled over me.
"What exactly did he say?"
She hesitated.
"He told someone, 'Carter is here. She made it back.'"
I kept my expression neutral.
"And?"
"He said, 'Find out what she brought home.'"
My hand tightened around the remaining gauze.
Amanda looked genuinely frightened.
"Evelyn, what did he mean?"
Before I could answer, Daniel appeared at my shoulder.
"What's going on?"
I turned toward him.
"Where's Richard?"
Daniel frowned.
"Probably outside."
"Which door?"
"How would I know?"
I stepped away.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
The pain in my injured shoulder flashed white behind my eyes.
I stopped.
"Take your hand off me."
He released me immediately.
"Jesus, Evelyn. I was just trying to talk to you."
"Then talk."
"You're acting insane."
I looked at him.
"Where is Richard Voss?"
Daniel glanced toward our father.
Something passed between them.
Something small.
But I saw it.
My brother swallowed.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because he knows something he shouldn't."
Dad pushed himself upright.
"Richard is my oldest friend."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"He's a respected businessman."
"Neither does that."
"Evelyn!"
I faced him.
For once, I didn't lower my eyes.
"Your friend just discussed a military operation whose details haven't been released."
Dad's expression changed.
Not much.
But enough.
He glanced toward Daniel.
Then back at me.
"What operation?"
"The one I came home from."
He gave a short, humorless laugh.
"Don't tell me you've somehow become involved in classified military affairs."
I said nothing.
Dad stared at me.
"You have spent years refusing to explain your job. You disappear for weeks, sometimes months, then show up at family gatherings expecting everyone to act impressed."
"I've never asked anyone to be impressed."
"Then what exactly do you want?"
I was tired enough to tell him the truth.
"I wanted you to be glad I came home alive."
He opened his mouth.
For one brief second, I thought something human might come out.
Instead, he said, "Don't be melodramatic."
I looked away.
That was when I noticed the side door standing open.
Richard was gone.
I hurried toward it.
Behind me, Amanda called, "Evelyn, wait."
I stepped onto the stone patio.
Rain blew beneath the overhang.
A black sedan stood beside the far entrance to the driveway.
Its engine was running.
Richard leaned into the passenger window.
I couldn't hear everything over the rain.
Only fragments.
"...wasn't supposed to return this quickly."
Then another phrase.
"...the package."
I took out my phone.
The secure call with General Shaw had disconnected when I entered the house.
I dialed her again.
Richard turned.
For the first time that evening, his smile vanished.
"Evelyn."
"Richard."
He straightened.
"Your father asked me to leave."
"Did he?"
"Yes."
"That's interesting. He didn't mention it."
Richard adjusted his cuff links.
"Your family has always had trouble communicating."
I moved closer.
"Who were you talking to?"
"My driver."
"About me?"
He laughed.
"Don't flatter yourself."
"Then you won't mind telling me what package you were discussing."
His eyes hardened.
"Be careful."
I stopped.
Rain ran down the back of my neck.
"Was that a threat?"
"Advice."
"From a family friend?"
"From someone who understands how complicated your life could become."
His driver shifted inside the car.
I couldn't see his face.
Richard lowered his voice.
"You should go home, Evelyn. Get some sleep. Forget whatever happened overseas."
I stared at him.
"How do you know I was overseas?"
He didn't answer.
"Nobody at dinner said where I had been."
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
"You said you came from the base."
"That isn't an answer."
Richard took a step toward me.
For the first time, I saw the man beneath the polished surface.
He wasn't smiling.
He wasn't amused.
He was frightened.
And fear was making him dangerous.
"You have no idea what you're involving yourself in."
I felt my heartbeat slow.
It always did when things became serious.
"Then explain it to me."
His phone vibrated.
He glanced at the screen.
Whatever he read made his expression tighten.
"Good night, Evelyn."
He climbed into the sedan.
I stepped aside.
The vehicle rolled down the driveway, its taillights disappearing into the rain.
I memorized the license plate.
Then I photographed the wet tire tracks where the sedan had been parked.
Not because I expected the tracks to reveal anything extraordinary.
Because the last forty-eight hours had taught me that small details could matter.
Especially when someone wanted them forgotten.
Inside the house, the party had resumed with a forced cheerfulness that made my skin crawl.
Someone had turned the music back on.
A waiter was collecting broken glass.
Dad sat at the head of the table with his bandaged hand held away from his expensive jacket.
Daniel stood beside him, speaking rapidly.
Amanda waited near the staircase.
When she saw me, she rushed over.
"Did you find him?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"He left."
Her face tightened.
"That's all?"
"For now."
She looked down at my shoulder.
"You're going to let me examine that."
"I already had it examined."
"By someone who clearly couldn't convince you to rest."
"Fair."
Amanda almost smiled.
Then she reached into her pocket and handed me a folded napkin.
"Richard dropped this near the side door."
I unfolded it.
There was writing on the back.
Not much.
A phone number.
Three letters.
And a time.
RAV - 0415.
My stomach dropped.
I recognized the letters immediately.
RAVEN.
Our operational designation.
The name had been shortened in the field to RAV.
The time was familiar too.
0415\.
Four fifteen in the morning.
The moment our extraction route had changed.
The moment everything began going wrong.
"Amanda, did anyone else see this?"
"No."
"Don't tell anyone about it."
She stared at me.
"Evelyn, you're scaring me."
I touched her arm.
"I know."
"What happened to you?"
I looked at her.
My baby sister.
The one person in this family who still hugged me without checking who was watching.
"There was a rescue mission."
Her eyes filled with concern.
"Where?"
"I can't tell you."
"How bad?"
I hesitated.
"Bad enough that I'm grateful to be standing here."
Amanda's gaze moved to the dried blood on my sleeve.
"How many people?"
I swallowed.
"Too many were hurt."
She went quiet.
Then she stepped forward and embraced me again.
This time I couldn't stop myself.
I leaned into her shoulder.
Just for a second.
Just long enough to remember what it felt like to be somebody's sister instead of somebody's commander.
Then my phone rang.
General Shaw.
I answered immediately.
"Ma'am."
"Evelyn, we need you back on base."
"Understood."
"Now."
I looked toward Amanda.
"Is there a development?"
"Yes."
I heard voices in the background.
A door closing.
Then General Shaw said, "Sergeant Green regained consciousness."
My heart leaped.
Marcus.
The last time I had seen him, he had been unconscious on a stretcher, his face covered in ash and his lower leg immobilized.
"How is he?"
"Stable. He's asking for you."
I closed my eyes.
"Thank God."
General Shaw didn't respond.
That worried me.
"Ma'am?"
"Before he lost consciousness again, he told the medical team something."
"What?"
"He said the mission was compromised from inside the United States."
My hand went cold.
"And then he gave them a name."
I already knew.
Somehow, I knew before she said it.
"Richard Voss."
A silence stretched between us.
Then General Shaw replied, "No, Colonel."
I stopped breathing.
"He said Daniel Carter."
My brother.
The man standing twenty feet away, laughing beside our father.
General Shaw's voice became very quiet.
"Evelyn, whatever you do, do not confront him."
I looked into the dining room.
Daniel raised his glass.
May you like
Our father smiled.
And for the first time in my life, I wondered whether the people I called family had just helped send my soldiers into a trap.
