Chapter 6 - Retribution in Motion
The federal agents pulled Evelyn to her feet. For all her designer jewelry and tailored clothes, she looked utterly ruined. Her hair was disheveled, her face streaked with tears, and the cold reality of federal custody finally settled over her shoulders like lead.
Beside her, Sienna was read her Miranda rights, her frantic wails filling the hallway as they were escorted out through the grand double doors of the ballroom. As Sienna passed me, she tried to catch my eye, searching for the sister who had always shielded her from consequences, the sister who had taken the blame every time a vase broke, every time a car was wrecked, every time a bill went unpaid.
I didn't look back. I looked forward.
General Vance stepped forward, extending his hand to Mason, then to me. "Major, Colonel. The DCIS team has secured their vehicles and personal devices. The search warrants on their residences and the boutique will be executed within the hour. No evidence will be compromised."
"Thank you, General," I said, returning his firm handshake. "I'm sorry this spectacle disrupted the evening."
"Nonsense, Olivia," the General replied with a warm, fatherly smile that reminded me painfully of my own dad. "Thomas was my closest friend for twenty years. If he were here tonight, he would have dragged them out by their collars himself. You carried their weight for far too long. It's time you stood tall."
The guests began to applaud—not a polite, reserved clap, but a resounding wave of respect that washed over the entire hall. The whispers that had once buzzed with gossip had turned completely into declarations of admiration.
Mason turned to me, his gaze softening completely. The hardened battlefield commander vanished, replaced by the man who had held my hand through long nights of classified debriefings and silent grief.
He gently cupped my uninjured cheek. "Are you alright?"
I took a deep, shuddering breath. For eight years, I had felt the ghost of my father's sacrifice weighing down on me like an anvil, distorted by my mother's bottomless greed. Tonight, for the first time since the day that military chaplain knocked on our door, I felt light.
"I'm more than alright," I said, a genuine smile breaking across my face. "I'm free."
Just then, Hayes approached again, his phone pressed against his ear. His expression was taut. He waited until the General stepped aside before leaning in close to Mason and me.
"Colonel. Major. We have an immediate complication," Hayes said quietly.
May you like
Mason's brow furrowed. "What is it?"
"The loan syndicate Sienna was involved with," Hayes whispered, glancing toward the exit. "It's not just local predatory lenders. We just traced the primary creditor's bank route. The shell company funding them is tied directly to the hostile intelligence network Major Vance has been tracking for the past eight months. And they just realized Sienna's cover was blown."
