Chapter 3 - The Lies Fabricated In Austin
Caleb felt a cold spike of ice run down his spine, his hands clenching into tight fists at his sides.
"I was never MIA," Caleb said, his voice dropping into a register so dark it made the air in the room feel heavy.
"My unit was under strict communications blackout during Operation Iron Sweep in the Euphrates valley."
"They knew that, Caleb," Sarah sobbed, wrapping her arms around her waist as if trying to hold her broken ribs together.
"Evelyn knew the military protocols because your late father served twenty years in the Special Forces."
"She used the fake casualty report to convince me that the military was going to repossess the ranch under the federal trust lien."
Sarah looked up at him, her eyes filled with an agonizing mixture of shame and terror.
"Julian pulled out a three-hundred-page transfer deed," she continued, her breathing erratic.
"He said if I signed over the eight-hundred-acre Vance Ranch to his private holdings company, he would pay off the back taxes and ensure I had a place to live."
"When I refused to sign without speaking to your JAG legal officer first... Julian lost his temper."
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Caleb's eyes narrowed into twin slits of pure predator focus.
"What did he do, Sarah?" Caleb asked, every word measured and sharp.
