Chapter 5 - Broken Illusions
Franklin looked at the military police officers as if they had just pointed loaded rifles at his chest.
“Unauthorized access? I was invited! I’m Caleb’s father!” Franklin shouted, his voice cracking hysterically.
“You falsified a veteran liaison pass to bypass the secondary checkpoint, Hayes,” Colonel Mercer replied smoothly.
“You claimed active combat veteran status to sit in the VIP pavilion,” Mercer added, producing a laminated badge.
Marissa took two steps away from Franklin, physically distancing herself from the man she had bragged about all morning.
“Franklin, what is he talking about? You said the base commander personally sent you that pass!” Marissa cried.
Franklin’s face turned bright crimson, the veins in his neck bulging against his silk collar.
“It was an administrative oversight! A mix-up at the gate!” Franklin protested, backing away until his heels hit the curb.
“There are no mix-ups when it comes to military security, Hayes,” General Vance cut in with cold finality.
“Escort him to the provost marshal’s office and review his discharge papers from ninety-four,” Vance ordered the guards.
The two military police officers moved in seamlessly, taking Franklin by each arm and spinning him around.
“Olivia! Tell them! Tell them who I am!” Franklin shrieked as the cold steel handcuffs clicked around his wrists.
I looked at him with the calm detachment I had once reserved for captured insurgents on foreign soil.
“I know exactly who you are, Franklin,” I said quietly, loud enough for Caleb and the crowd to hear.
“You are a man who spent twenty years stealing valor from true soldiers while degrading the mother of your child,” I added.
Franklin was led away past dozens of young officers who watched him with cold, stony glares of disgust.
Marissa stood frozen on the grass, clutching her designer purse like a shield while looking around in total humiliation.
“I think your ride is waiting at the visitor center, ma’am,” Colonel Mercer told her without a trace of warmth.
She turned on her expensive heels and hurried across the lawn, nearly tripping in her haste to flee the scene.
Caleb stood beside me, breathing heavily as the parade ground gradually cleared of civilian spectators.
“Mom,” he whispered, his knuckles white as he clenched his white parade gloves.
“Why didn't you ever tell me?” he asked, a single tear cutting a trail through the dust on his cheek.
“Because I wanted you to choose your own path without living in the shadow of a phantom,” I answered softly.
“I spent my youth ending lives in the dark, Caleb,” I said, reaching up to gently cup his sunburnt cheek.
“I wanted you to spend yours protecting lives in the light,” I told him, looking into his honest eyes.
General Vance stepped forward, clearing his throat as he tapped a thick manila folder tucked beneath his arm.
“Olivia, we didn't just stumble onto you today by accident,” Vance said, his voice dropping into business mode.
I stiffened, the old survival instincts flaring along the nerve endings of my neck.
“What is this, Thomas?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the classified seal stamped across the folder.
“Unit Raven’s final operation was declassified three days ago by presidential order,” Vance revealed quietly.
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“The names of your team are being etched into the secret wall at Arlington next Friday,” he continued.
“And the brass wants the commander who kept them alive to lead the ceremony,” Vance said, holding out the file.
