Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Something in her agreement seemed to unsettle him.
She reached into her backpack again.
This time she removed a small black recording device.
Voss’s eyes flicked toward it.
Olivia set it on the table.
“Counterintelligence advised me not to accuse anyone without independent corroboration.”
Hale said nothing.
She continued.
“So we created a controlled exposure.”
Voss’s jaw tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
Olivia looked directly at him.
“The tattoo on my back is accurate.”
She paused.
“But the three scars beneath it are not positioned exactly as shown in my classified medical file.”
Voss stopped moving.
Hale looked at her in surprise.
Olivia continued.
“Two are genuine. The third was extended by less than an inch with medical pigmentation six weeks ago.”
The commander slowly turned toward Voss.
Olivia’s voice stayed calm.
“The photo sent to you this morning shows the altered version.”
Voss said nothing.
“But your removal request states that my body markings are consistent with the surviving Grey Lantern operator.”
His face changed.
Only slightly.
Enough.
Hale stepped forward.
“How would you know what the classified medical record says?”
Voss recovered quickly.
“I was briefed.”
“By whom?”
“That information is above this room.”
Olivia pressed a button on the recorder.
A voice played through the speaker.
Voss’s voice.
Recorded less than ten minutes earlier in an encrypted call intercepted under warrant.
“She has the scars. All three. It’s her.”
The room went dead silent.
Voss stared at the device.
Olivia looked at him.
“You didn’t wait for verification.”
His mouth opened.
She continued.
“You recognized me from a medical detail you could only know if you had access to the original Grey Lantern casualty packet.”
Hale’s face went cold.
“And who had access?”
Olivia answered.
“Three investigators, one surgeon, and the officer who submitted the extraction change order.”
Voss’s composure finally cracked.
“You have no idea what you are accusing me of.”
“No,” Olivia said. “I know exactly what I am accusing you of.”
The door opened.
Two agents in plain clothes entered.
Behind them stood a military attorney and the installation’s provost marshal.
Voss looked from one face to another.
“This is absurd.”
One of the agents held up credentials.
“Colonel Nathan Voss, you are being temporarily relieved of access pending an investigation into unauthorized possession of compartmented material, obstruction, and falsification of operational records.”
Voss laughed once.
“You think a tattoo proves treason?”
Olivia stood.
“No.”
She picked up the old backpack.
“The tattoo made you react.”
She looked at the photocopied order.
“The signature made us suspicious.”
Then she nodded toward the recorder.
“But your own words proved you had information you were never supposed to possess.”
The agents escorted Voss out.
No one in the room spoke for several seconds.
Hale finally looked at Olivia.
“Was he the one who compromised the mission?”
“We still don’t know.”
The commander frowned.
“But he had the file.”
“Yes.”
“That means—”
“It means the investigation finally has somewhere real to go.”
May you like
Hale nodded slowly.
Three months later, the answer came.
