Chapter 5 - The Ghost Protocol
I ignored protocol and pulled my phone from my pocket.
The caller ID displayed a restricted Pentagon emergency line.
Major Hart and Detective Bennett stared at their own screens, equally paralyzed by the synchronized ringing.
I answered the call and put it on speaker for the entire room to hear.
“Colonel Ward, this is Cyber Command,” a panicked voice echoed from the speaker.
“We are tracking a catastrophic breach of the DoD reserve funds.”
“The money is being routed through a ghost terminal using your deceased wife's security clearance.”
I looked at Vivienne, expecting her to be gloating, but she looked genuinely terrified.
“This wasn't us,” Vivienne whispered, her voice trembling.
“We set you up to take the fall for the missing millions, but we never touched the multibillion-dollar reserves.”
Grant grabbed Preston by the collar, slamming him against the wall.
“What did you do, you idiot?”
“I didn't do this!” Preston screamed, struggling to break free.
I grabbed the tablet from Nadia and looked closely at the IP address tracking the ghost terminal.
I had spent a decade running tactical intelligence, and numbers never lied.
“The signal isn't coming from a remote server farm,” I announced to the room.
“The ghost terminal is physically located inside the Calder family mansion.”
Major Hart instantly holstered her weapon and grabbed her radio.
“All units, we have a Code Red financial terror event.”
“We are rolling out to the Calder estate immediately.”
Detective Bennett stepped in front of the door, her hand resting heavily on her police belt.
“You can't go there, Major.”
I stared at the detective, wondering why she was still defending these corrupt billionaires.
“The local police chief just issued a hard barricade protocol,” Bennett explained, looking deeply conflicted.
“He parked twenty squad cars in front of the Calder estate to protect them from federal raids.”
“If you roll military vehicles up to those gates, it will trigger a bloodbath between local cops and military police.”
I looked at the live tracker on the tablet.
The transfer would be complete in exactly twenty minutes, making the two billion dollars completely untraceable.
We didn't have time to negotiate with a corrupt police chief.
“We don't need a convoy,” I said, stripping off my formal uniform jacket to reveal my tactical undershirt.
I looked at Major Hart and the cybercrimes investigator.
“I just need one vehicle, one laptop, and someone who knows how to bypass a multi-million dollar security system.”
Grant Calder stepped forward, a grim look on his face.
“I built that security system.”
“I can get you in through the underground maintenance tunnels, but we have to leave right now.”
I didn't trust Grant for a single second, but we had absolutely no other choice.
As we sprinted toward the hospital exit, Nadia called out to me.
“Dad!”
I turned back, and she tossed me a heavy, silver object.
It was Preston’s personal master keycard to the estate.
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“Bring my mother's ghost back from the dead,” Nadia said coldly.
I caught the keycard, bolted through the double doors, and ran straight into a squad of local SWAT officers who had their assault rifles pointed directly at my chest.
