Chapter 2 - The Silent Extraction
I stared at the blood on the concrete, my mind shifting instantly from investigator to survivor.
Someone had grabbed the woman the moment she stepped outside.
I immediately reached into my purse for my encrypted government phone.
I pressed the emergency speed dial to summon my Pentagon security detail.
The phone rang twice before clicking over to an automated voice telling me my access had been permanently revoked.
A cold sense of dread washed over my entire body.
My security clearance was the highest in the department, and nobody could revoke it without the Secretary of Defense signing off.
I opened my secure email application, finding my inbox completely wiped clean.
Adrian had not just been sitting at that table trying to intimidate me.
He had been keeping me occupied while his associates systematically dismantled my digital life.
My personal cell phone buzzed violently in my pocket.
It was a text message from my mother.
"I am so sorry, Serena," the message read.
"He promised he would not hurt you if you just went on the date."
"I had to do it to protect your brother."
My breath hitched in my throat as I read the words again.
My younger brother, David, was a logistics officer stationed at the Norfolk naval base.
Before I could type a reply, the heavy doors of the restaurant swung open behind me.
Adrian walked out, perfectly composed, straightening his expensive suit jacket.
He was holding a blood-stained leather wallet in his right hand.
I recognized the embossed initials on the leather immediately.
May you like
It was David's wallet.
"Your brother is a very careless young man, Serena," Adrian said, stepping into the streetlights.
