Chapter 12 - The Woman in My UniformTHE WOMAN ON THE SCREEN WASN'T ME.
I knew it before anyone said another word.
My posture was different.
My hairline was different.
And the small mark above her right eyebrow wasn't a scar I recognized on myself.
It looked like an adhesive strip.
Something meant to disguise a feature.
I leaned closer.
“Play it again.”
Reed restarted the footage.
The woman walked toward the storage room.
She paused at the doorway.
Looked over her shoulder.
Then disappeared inside.
I watched her movements.
The way she carried her shoulders.
The way she touched the doorframe.
The slight hesitation before entering.
“She's pretending to be me,” I said.
Shaw nodded slowly.
“That is one possibility.”
Reed turned to her.
“We need image enhancement and independent identification.”
“Already requested.”
I watched the footage a third time.
Then something occurred to me.
“General, where did this recording come from?”
“An archived security backup recovered during the reopened investigation.”
“Who recovered it?”
“Investigators working with Samuel Mercer's records.”
“And where was it kept?”
Reed hesitated.
“Inside an encrypted evidence archive.”
I felt the old instinct returning.
The one that had guided me through dangerous flights.
Don't focus only on what you can see.
Ask why you're seeing it.
“Why would someone impersonate me?”
Shaw considered the question.
“To access restricted areas. To create a false record. Or to associate you with an action you didn't take.”
I looked at the screen.
“Did the original investigation include this footage?”
“No.”
“Then someone removed it.”
“Possibly.”
I folded my arms.
“Who had access to the original security system?”
Reed opened another file.
“Military personnel, the facility security contractor, and a limited number of authorized civilian support personnel.”
“Which contractor?”
He looked at me.
“Vale Aeronautics provided certain infrastructure support services. But we haven't established that it controlled this camera system.”
I nodded.
Another connection.
Another unanswered question.
Then my phone rang.
An unfamiliar number.
I looked at Shaw.
She motioned for me to wait while she contacted the communications team.
They arranged for the call to be documented.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Grant's voice.
“Jessica.”
My heart jumped.
“Grant? Where are you?”
He was breathing heavily.
There was background noise.
Wind.
An engine.
Something metallic scraping.
“Listen to me,” he whispered.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
I looked at Shaw.
She was already alerting the investigators.
“Grant, the police found your SUV abandoned near Vale's property.”
“I know.”
“Did you take my safe?”
A pause.
Then:
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why?”
“I didn't know what was in it.”
“Then why did you take it?”
His voice cracked.
“Because Adrian told me to.”
My chest tightened.
“Adrian Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said you had stolen documents that belonged to one of his companies.”
I felt anger surge.
“You believed him?”
“He told me you were under investigation.”
“Grant, I'm a decorated retired officer, not a corporate thief.”
“I know that now.”
I pressed the phone harder against my ear.
“What happened to the safe?”
“I delivered it.”
“To whom?”
“His security director.”
“Where?”
Grant hesitated.
“Jessica, I didn't know what I was getting involved in.”
I looked at Shaw.
She mouthed a single word.
Continue.
“Grant, listen carefully. You need to tell the investigators everything.”
His breathing quickened.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian knows.”
“Knows what?”
“About the money.”
I closed my eyes.
“The four-point-eight million-dollar transfer?”
Silence.
Then he whispered:
“That wasn't an investment.”
My stomach dropped.
“What was it?”
“A payment.”
“For what?”
“I was told it was a consulting arrangement. A property acquisition. I didn't ask enough questions.”
“Who paid you?”
“An investment entity tied to Vale.”
“And what did you provide?”
He didn't answer.
“Grant.”
His voice trembled.
“Information.”
“What information?”
“At first, financial contacts. Then names. Background details. People who had worked on military contracts.”
I felt sick.
“And me?”
Another silence.
“Grant, did you approach me because of Adrian Vale?”
“No.”
I wanted to believe him.
But I needed the truth.
“Then how did he know about me?”
“He didn't. Not at first.”
“Explain.”
Grant inhaled shakily.
“I met you by accident. I swear. But after we married, I mentioned your name during a dinner with Adrian.”
My eyes closed.
“What happened?”
“He asked whether you'd served overseas.”
I gripped the phone.
“And?”
“I said you had some kind of military background.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted to know whether you had kept any records from your service.”
I couldn't speak.
Grant continued.
“I thought he was just curious. Then he offered me a consulting contract connected to a veterans' aerospace investment program.”
I heard Shaw quietly instruct another investigator to record every detail.
“Grant,” I whispered, “you sold information about me?”
“I didn't think of it that way.”
“Did you give him my address?”
“Yes.”
“My employment information?”
“Yes.”
“My old military records?”
“I only gave him what I could find.”
I closed my eyes.
The man I'd trusted enough to marry had been giving information about me to someone connected to the mission that nearly killed me.
And he'd done it for money.
“Jessica,” he said, “I'm sorry.”
The words sounded small.
Too small.
“Where are you?”
He didn't answer.
“Grant, if you're in danger, tell me where you are.”
A metallic sound echoed through the call.
Then another voice.
Male.
Calm.
Unfamiliar at first.
“Mr. Whitmore, that's enough.”
Grant inhaled sharply.
“Please—”
The voice continued.
“You've already said far too much.”
I stood.
“Who is this?”
Silence.
Then the man answered.
“Colonel Morgan. You've caused considerable inconvenience.”
My blood ran cold.
I knew that voice.
I'd heard it in briefings.
On television.
At charity dinners.
And six years earlier, near a dusty military airfield.
“Adrian Vale.”
A soft laugh.
“It's been a long time, Raven.”
I clenched my jaw.
“Where's my husband?”
“Safe enough, for now.”
“What do you want?”
“The same thing I wanted six years ago.”
I stared at the frozen security footage on the screen.
“And what is that?”
He paused.
Then his voice became almost gentle.
“The evidence you were never supposed to survive long enough to identify.”
The call ended.
Shaw immediately contacted the investigation team.
I stood motionless.
Because now there was no question.
Adrian Vale knew me.
He knew my call sign.
He knew about Ember Lantern.
And he knew exactly what had been inside my safe.
Then Reed's secure phone sounded.
He read a message and looked up sharply.
“Jessica.”
“What?”
“The security team recovered a partial image of the woman who impersonated you.”
My breath caught.
“Who is she?”
Reed turned the monitor toward me.
A personnel photograph appeared.
A woman in an Air Force uniform.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A small scar above her right eyebrow.
I recognized her.
Not from Syria.
From my wedding.
She had stood beside Grant as his best woman.
His closest friend.
A person I'd welcomed into our home.
May you like
Her name was Vanessa Cole.
And she had spent the last three years pretending she barely knew anything about the military.
