Chapter 5 - THE NAME ON THE WALL
The photograph wouldn't leave my mind.
A soldier who came home before me.
Who?
Why would my mother be connected to him?
Daniel told me not to investigate alone.
Naturally, I did anyway.
The next morning, I searched old deployment records.
Unit rosters.
Archived newsletters.
Names of soldiers who had returned early.
Then I found one.
Captain Michael Reed.
Returned from deployment fourteen months before his scheduled rotation.
Reason:
Administrative investigation.
No further details.
I knew the name.
Michael Reed had been one of the contractors' military liaisons attached to our operation.
He had disappeared from the unit without explanation.
I called an old friend still serving.
"Do you remember Mike Reed?"
A long pause.
"Why?"
"Because I need to know what happened."
My friend lowered his voice.
"He came home after finding something wrong with a shipment."
"What shipment?"
"I don't know."
"Who investigated?"
"Internal Affairs."
"What happened to Reed?"
"Retired."
"Where is he?"
Another pause.
"South Carolina."
That afternoon, I drove to his address.
He didn't answer at first.
I knocked again.
Finally, the door opened.
Mike stared at me.
Then looked over my shoulder.
"You shouldn't be here."
I stepped inside.
He was older than I remembered.
Gray hair.
A limp.
A house filled with framed military photographs.
One wall caught my attention.
Every photograph had a face scratched out.
"What's this?"
Mike stared at the wall.
"Men who knew too much."
I looked at him.
"Did you know my mother?"
He said nothing.
"Did she know you?"
He exhaled.
"Yes."
"Did she move military money?"
"Not military money."
"Then what?"
Mike shut the door.
"Procurement contracts."
My stomach tightened.
He walked to a filing cabinet.
"I found irregularities."
"How much?"
"Millions."
"Where did the money go?"
"Private companies."
"Whose?"
He looked directly at me.
"Some were connected to your family."
I felt sick.
"My mother?"
"Your mother wasn't the mastermind."
"Then who?"
Mike shook his head.
"I never learned the full chain."
"Who paid her?"
He reached into the filing cabinet.
Pulled out an old folder.
Then he looked at me carefully.
"Your mother wasn't paid to steal."
I frowned.
"She was paid to keep quiet."
That sentence changed everything.
"About what?"
Mike opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph of a shipping container.
The number had been circled in red.
"These containers were supposed to contain medical equipment."
"And?"
"They didn't."
"What was inside?"
Mike looked at me.
"Something your family should never have been involved with."
I waited.
"Restricted technology."
My blood went cold.
"Military?"
"Yes."
"Did my mother know?"
"Eventually."
"And Paige?"
He nodded.
"She became the money handler."
I stared at the wall.
Paige.
My younger sister.
The person who had once cried when I left for training.
The person who had hugged me at the airport.
The person who had apparently turned into a financial accomplice.
"Why did they use my accounts?"
Mike answered without hesitation.
"Because your military record made the transactions look legitimate."
I couldn't breathe.
My service wasn't just being used to send money.
It was being used as cover.
"Was my name forged?"
"Yes."
"How often?"
"Enough that you should worry."
I stood.
"What happened to the shipment?"
Mike's eyes hardened.
"One container disappeared."
"Where?"
"We never found it."
"Who signed for it?"
Mike stared at me.
"Your mother."
I felt the room go silent.
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
"Caleb, where are you?"
"With Mike Reed."
Silence.
"How did you find him?"
"I'll explain."
Daniel's voice sharpened.
"Don't move."
"What happened?"
"We traced the old property transactions."
"And?"
"We found a hidden warehouse."
"Whose?"
"Your mother's company."
My pulse raced.
"Where?"
Daniel gave me the address.
It was less than an hour away.
Mike heard it.
He stood immediately.
"No."
I turned.
"What?"
"You cannot go there."
"Why?"
"Because that's where they kept the records."
"What records?"
He stared at me.
"The records proving where the money really went."
I grabbed my jacket.
Mike shook his head.
"You don't understand."
I looked at him.
"Then explain it."
He did.
May you like
And the words nearly stopped my heart.
"The missing shipment was stored there."
