“TAKE OFF THAT UNIFORM!”—A Wealthy Brother Shoved His Soldier Sister Into a Medal Display, Until a Four-Star General Arrived and Saluted Her! Then Their Late Father’s Secret Envelope Exposed Something the Millionaire Had Spent Years Trying to Bury...

Before Vance could touch the key, a red warning tone buzzed from the satellite monitor behind him.

The General tapped the keyboard, pulling up an encrypted feed from the Virginia Department of Corrections. On screen was the high-security infirmary of Wallens Ridge.

"Look," Vance whispered.

The camera showed an empty hospital bed, stripped of sheets. Two state troopers were standing near the door, their posture tense, talking to an agent in a federal trench coat.

"They told me Richard was stabilized," Evelyn said, leaning over the console. "Where did they transfer him?"

Vance typed a sequence of override commands, bypassing the state firewall into the Department of Justice database. A file flashed onto the screen: *INMATE #88419-HAYES, RICHARD. STATUS: DECEASED. CAUSE OF DEATH: COMPLICATIONS FROM PENETRATING TRAUMA. BODY RELEASED TO PRIVATE FUNERAL TRANSPORT 05:15 EST.*

"He's dead?" Evelyn’s voice caught in her throat. Even after everything Richard had done—the cruelty, the humiliation, the arrogance—he was still her brother. He was the boy who had taught her how to ride a bicycle before the poison of unlimited wealth had rotted his soul.

"No," Vance said, his eyes narrowing as he analyzed the digital signature on the transport authorization. "Look at the seal on the release form. It isn't from the state medical examiner. It’s signed by a private logistics firm: *Aegis-Apex Solutions*. A subsidiary of Meridian."

"They faked his death," Evelyn whispered.

"Or they extracted him to finish the interrogation themselves," Vance said grimly. "Richard knew the access codes to Samuel’s offshore safety deposit boxes. If they keep him alive, it's only until they break his mind and get what they need. Once they have his biometric signatures, your brother won't just be legally dead—he will cease to exist on this earth."

Evelyn grabbed her Sig Sauer from the table, checking the magazine with ruthless finality.

"We aren't letting them bury him," she said.

"Captain, you are a military officer on active duty. If you go after private contractors on civilian soil without Department of Justice authorization, you are committing an act of domestic terrorism. They will strip your rank, court-martial you, and hunt you down like a stray dog."

Evelyn looked the Four-Star General directly in the eye, the fire of her father’s legacy burning in her gaze. "Sir, with all due respect, my father died for this uniform, and my brother was dragged into hell because of it. If the United States Army won't defend my family against the monsters running our defense infrastructure, then I am not acting as an Army officer today."

She unpinned her gold captain’s bars from her collar and placed them beside the transponder key.