Chapter 5 - He Crossed the Line
The Army moved quickly.
Faster than Mark expected.
By that evening, military investigators and federal agents were inside the house.
I watched remotely from a secure conference room.
They photographed everything.
My office.
My desk.
The broken lock.
The filing cabinet.
The home computer.
Then an investigator held something toward the camera.
A flash drive.
Found inside Mark’s desk.
My throat tightened.
“Can you identify it?”
“No.”
The drive was taken for analysis.
Three hours later, General Hayes entered the room.
His expression told me enough.
“What was on it?”
“Photographs.”
“Of what?”
“Your documents.”
I went still.
Not operational plans.
Thankfully.
I never brought those home.
But promotion correspondence.
Personnel information.
Travel schedules.
Names of officers.
Internal administrative documents.
Enough to create a serious security breach.
“Did Mark send them anywhere?”
“We’re determining that.”
My phone rang.
Mark.
I stared at it.
Hayes nodded.
“Answer.”
I did.
“Anna.”
Mark sounded exhausted.
“What do you want?”
“We need to fix this.”
“There is no ‘we’ anymore.”
“I made mistakes.”
“Mistakes?”
“I panicked.”
“You photographed military documents.”
Silence.
That silence was confirmation.
“I never meant to hurt you.”
“You threw me out while I was in labor.”
“I was angry.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I was trying to save the company.”
“You tried to steal my inheritance.”
“It wasn’t stealing.”
I almost laughed.
“What would you call it?”
“We were married.”
“Were.”
Another silence.
“You filed?”
“This morning.”
His breathing changed.
“Anna.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I already did.”
“Think about Grace.”
“I am.”
“You’re destroying her family.”
“No, Mark.”
My voice remained calm.
“You destroyed it when you decided your wife was useful only if you could profit from her.”
He breathed heavily.
Then his tone changed.
The apology disappeared.
“You think that uniform makes you untouchable?”
Hayes immediately looked at me.
There it was.
The real Mark.
“No.”
I answered.
“It makes me accountable.”
I paused.
“And you’re about to learn the difference.”
Mark hung up.
Less than an hour later, agents went to locate him.
His apartment was empty.
May you like
His car was gone.
And so was Claire’s backup military access badge.
