Chapter 10 - The Architect of Lies
Elena stared at the vibrating satellite phone. The screen displayed a single word: RECOVERY.
She picked it up, pressing the receiver to her ear without speaking.
""Did you find what you were looking for, Elena?"" Director Cole’s voice was crystal-clear, devoid of the distortion from the radio.
""Cole,"" she spat, her fingers tightening around the cold plastic. ""You were the one who ordered Aquila to hold that ridge line. You didn't leave Miller behind because he was heroic. You left him to die with the ledger.""
""Miller was an idealist who forgot who paid for his ammunition,"" Cole replied calmly. ""Your father was smart enough to keep his head down, until his conscience got the better of him in his old age. But you... you always were the soldier.""
""I have the ledger,"" Elena said. ""Every signature. Every wire transfer. Every politician who took your blood money.""
""And where will you take it?"" Cole mocked softly. ""The Department of Justice? The press? Half of the editors in Washington have their mortgages paid by the defense conglomerates named on page forty-two. You can't stop the machine, Elena. The machine built this world.""
""I don't need to stop the machine, Cole,"" she replied, her voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. ""I only need to kill its engineer.""
""Look out the viewing room monitor, Corporal.""
Elena glanced up at the small closed-circuit television mounted above the vault door. On the black-and-white screen, the vault lobby was empty—except for Marek, who was kneeling on the marble floor, his hands zip-tied behind his back. Standing over him, with a silenced pistol pressed against the back of his neck, was one of Cole’s grey-suited operatives.
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""You have five minutes to bring the book upstairs,"" Cole said. ""Or Sergeant Marek dies for your stubbornness. Just like your squad. Just like your father.""
The line went dead.
