Chapter 3 - Ghosts from the Past
Seeing David in that black SUV sent a shockwave through my chest.
He had not paid a single dime of child support since he walked out on us.
Now, he was sitting outside my house alongside a stranger in a suit.
I turned back to the military police officers.
"My phone service has been jammed, and someone is impersonating my command," I stated clearly.
"If you try to remove my son without jurisdiction, I will have you both court-martialed by Friday."
The officers exchanged a nervous glance.
They realized they had been duped by whoever handed them that fake deployment order.
"We were just told to secure the premises, Commander," the lead officer mumbled before stepping back.
Monica realized she was losing control of the situation.
"He's in danger with her!" she screamed at Dana Reyes.
Dana held up a hand to silence my sister.
"Ms. Bennett, you need to leave the property right now, or I will call the local police," Dana warned Monica.
Monica glared at me, her mask of concern completely gone.
"This isn't over, Rachel," she hissed before marching down the driveway.
She got into the backseat of the black SUV with David.
The mysterious man in the suit drove them away.
I thanked the confused military police officers and sent them back to base.
Dana followed me back inside the house.
"Commander, someone went to great lengths to fake those documents," Dana said, looking deeply troubled.
"I need to know exactly who is trying to take your son."
I walked into my home office and booted up my secure Navy laptop.
I needed to check my official personnel file to see how they faked the deployment orders.
The screen flashed red the moment I logged in.
A security warning popped up, indicating my clearance had been revoked.
Someone had locked me out of the entire Department of Defense network.
But they had made one fatal mistake.
Before the system froze, I managed to grab a screenshot of the last user who accessed my files.
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The login ID did not belong to my sister or my ex-husband.
It belonged to the presiding judge of my upcoming military tribunal.
