Chapter 10 - The Unbroken Line
The hearing adjourned twenty minutes later amidst a flurry of emergency federal marshals and closed-session orders. Arthur Sterling did not walk out of Conference Room 4F on his own terms; he was escorted down the corridor by federal investigators while his attorneys frantically scrambled to draft legal disclaimers.
By evening, the preliminary findings of our investigation were locked into the Joint Strategic Assessment Group’s permanent archives. The Vanguard-Aegis fraud scheme was fully exposed, implicating a network of civilian contractors who had treated national defense logistics like a private piggy bank.
Colonel Vance stood by the window of our fourth-floor office, watching the lights of the capital flicker against the evening sky as the rain began to tap against the glass.
"You handled that well, Evans," Vance said, turning around with a rare, approving nod. "The Inspector General is already reviewing the procurement contracts. Vanguard's entire supply chain is going to be audited from the ground up."
"Thank you, sir," I said, standing by my desk.
"What about your family?" Vance asked gently. "Your father is still facing federal restructuring charges, and your mother’s public relations campaign has completely collapsed."
I looked down at my desk, where my phone sat silent. There were no new texts from my mother. No demanding messages from Tiffany about her follower count or brand sponsorships. For the first time in my life, the silence from my family wasn't a punishment; it was a boundary.
"They'll have to answer for their choices," I said quietly. "Just like I had to answer for mine."
"Well," Vance said, picking up his service cap. "You've earned a few days of administrative leave before we start dismantling the next bureaucratic disaster. Take some time off, Lieutenant."
After Vance left, I packed my dress uniform jacket into my duffel bag and walked out of the federal building into the cool Washington evening. The streets were quiet, wet with rain, reflecting the amber glow of the streetlights.
My phone buzzed in my coat pocket.
I pulled it out, expecting a legal notice or another angry message from my parents' defense counsel. Instead, it was an encrypted notification from the Department of Defense personnel office.
Subject: Official Reassignment and Promotion Review — General Pierce’s Office
May you like
I stared at the screen for a long moment, the chill of the evening air fading as a steady, quiet resolve settled deep into my bones.
I unlocked the screen, wiped away the notification, and kept walking forward into the city.
