Chapter 20 - The Unopened Box
The CID convoy pulled away into the Wilmington night, their taillights disappearing into the mist, leaving the industrial yard once again in darkness. Agent Harris had assured me that Tyler’s legal record was fully protected, and Julian Vance was looking at twenty years in federal custody for grand larceny of military munitions, extortion, and identity theft against a minor.
The war outside was over. But Julian’s final words hung in the cab of my truck like poison on the forty-minute drive back to Major Bennett’s house.
*Ask Lauren who gave me the key.*
When I walked through Bennett's front door, the house was silent. Bennett was in the kitchen, reading a briefing report, while Tyler and Maya were fast asleep on the living room couches, finally resting under the security of a cleared sky.
Lauren was sitting alone on the back patio, staring out into the dark suburban yard, a damp cup of untouched coffee sitting on the table before her.
I stepped outside and slid the patio door shut behind me.
She turned, her face haggard, her eyes searching mine for news. "Is it done? Is Tyler safe?"
"Tyler is completely cleared," I said, pulling a metal chair out and sitting across from her. "Julian will spend the next two decades in federal prison."
Lauren let out a broken, shuddering sob of relief, covering her face with both hands. "Thank God... thank God."
"Julian said something before they hauled him away, Lauren."
Her hands froze against her face. Slowly, she lowered them, her skin going completely pale beneath the yellow porch light.
"He said you gave him the key to the basement," I stated, watching every micro-expression across her eyes. "Before I deployed. Not after the roof leaked. Not six months into my tour. Before I even left the country."
May you like
Lauren didn't scream, and she didn't deny it. Instead, she reached into her purse sitting on the patio floor, pulled out a small, tarnished brass safe-deposit box key, and placed it gently on the glass table between us.
"I didn't give him the key to steal equipment, David," she whispered, her voice trembling with a terror far deeper than anything Julian Vance had threatened. "I gave him the key because someone inside your own command ordered him to search our house before you shipped out. And what’s inside that safety deposit box at First National Bank isn't Julian’s secret... it’s yours."
