Chapter 13 - Face to Face
Elena kicked the office door open.
Cole didn't run. He stood behind a heavy mahogany desk, calmly dropping documents into a portable chemical burn barrel. The laptop on his desk was melting into slag under an incendiary charge.
""You're too late, Elena,"" Cole said, not even looking up as the smoke curled toward the ceiling. ""The servers are wiped. The bank accounts are frozen. Even if you release that paper ledger, without the digital checksums, it's just ink on old paper. A conspiracy theory.""
Elena kept her rifle leveled squarely between his eyes. ""My father is dead because of you.""
""Your father died because he was weak,"" Cole spat, his scarred jaw twitching. ""He thought honor mattered in a world governed by supply chains and defense appropriations. We kept the war going so people like him—and people like you—had a purpose.""
""You killed Miller,"" she said, her finger tightening on the trigger.
Cole laughed—a dry, rasping sound. ""I didn't kill Miller. Miller is waiting for you right now.""
Elena stopped. ""What did you say?""
""You think that transponder in Iraq was an SOS?"" Cole leaned forward, his eyes burning with cold amusement. ""Miller didn't send a distress signal, Corporal. He sent a homing beacon to deliver the ledger to our buyer. Miller didn't stay behind to save you seven years ago. He stayed behind because the private cartel offered him twenty million dollars to stage his own heroic death.""
""Liar,"" she hissed.
""Check the last page of the ledger again,"" Cole mocked. ""Look at the handwriting. It’s not Vance’s. It’s Miller’s. He wrote it. He was the one who drew that target on your father’s back.""
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From the doorway behind her, Marek stepped into the room, his weapon lowered, his face pale as he looked at the open file in his hand.
""Elena..."" Marek whispered, his voice trembling. ""He's telling the truth. I just pulled the transit manifest from the contractor’s vehicle. Miller’s private jet touched down in Zurich two hours ago.""
