Chapter 6 - THE MEDEVAC TEAM
Colonel Matthew Sloane wore a white medical coat over his uniform.
He presented himself to hospital security as director of a classified exposure response unit.
His transfer order stated that Leo had been contaminated by a military compound carried home on my uniform.
It blamed me for the baby’s fever and respiratory failure.
The document authorized immediate isolation at a secure federal facility.
Dr. Bennett refused.
“My patient has a confirmed bacterial infection and documented exposure to prescription sedatives.”
Sloane lifted a sealed folder.
“Those findings may reflect interaction with a classified agent.”
“Then provide the agent name and treatment protocol.”
“You do not possess clearance.”
“I possess a medical license and responsibility for this child.”
Two transport officers moved toward Leo’s room.
Mara arrived with federal agents before they reached the door.
“Step away from the patient.”
Sloane looked at her badge.
“You are obstructing a classified medical operation.”
Mara held up the warrant for his arrest.
“You are accused of producing false medical reports used in kidnapping attempts.”
His composure collapsed.
Only slightly.
He reached for the refrigerated case carried by one of the transport officers.
The officer stepped away from him.
Mara opened it.
Inside were blood collection kits, sedatives, and documents transferring Leo into military research custody.
There was no emergency medicine.
No biological response equipment.
They planned to collect fresh DNA, drug him again, and move him somewhere the cameras belonged to them.
The transport order carried General Keene’s digital signature.
Sloane was arrested.
One transport officer cooperated immediately.
He said the team had been told Leo carried a rare genetic marker connected to Sentinel’s biometric encryption.
The claim was false.
Sentinel’s patent rights belonged to Leo legally, not biologically.
Keene had convinced the medical team that the baby’s blood could unlock classified software.
He used technical language to make a kidnapping sound like national security.
Audrey requested to speak with me.
She sat inside a secured interview room wearing plain detention clothing.
Without Eleanor beside her, she looked younger.
More frightened.
“I did not know they would take Leo to a laboratory.”
“You purchased the medicine.”
“I thought they were building a neglect case.”
“That was enough for you?”
She looked down.
“No.”
“Did you hold Sophia?”
“Yes.”
“Did you take her phone?”
“Yes.”
“Did you watch Leo stop feeding?”
“Yes.”
Every answer mattered more than her tears.
“Why did you reach into your purse when the police entered?”
“Price’s access card could prove he had been inside.”
“You tried to break it.”
“Eleanor told me I would go to prison if anyone found it.”
“She was correct.”
Audrey began crying.
“Do you hate me?”
“This is not about making you feel what you think you deserve.”
“What is it about?”
“Sophia and Leo surviving what you chose.”
She looked toward the observation glass.
“I can help.”
“Then tell the truth without asking it to erase what you did.”
Audrey revealed that Eleanor maintained a private archive at the Gold Star Foundation retreat.
It contained copies of Keene’s payments, casualty files, and Robert Hale’s navigation recorder.
Eleanor kept evidence against Keene in case he abandoned her after the company sale.
“What is the retreat?” I asked.
“A house near Lake Geneva.”
The same property where Eleanor hosted military widows.
Federal agents searched it.
They found locked bedrooms, psychiatric medication, forged commitment papers, and surveillance files on more than thirty families.
Robert’s navigation recorder rested inside a climate controlled safe.
The data proved his helicopter received an unauthorized route and rejected multiple commands before the uncertified component failed.
My father had attempted to return.
The system trapped him.
An audio file captured his final transmission.
“Keene, cancel the route. Eleanor knows what you did.”
Then another voice entered.
Eleanor.
She was inside Keene’s command room during the flight.
“Robert, stop fighting this. Lucas will be taken care of.”
My father answered:
“By the man helping you kill me?”
The recording ended with the aircraft warning alarms.
Eleanor had not only known about the sabotage.
She had spoken to Robert while he was trying to survive it.
Investigators confronted her.
She did not deny the voice.
“He was going to destroy everything.”
“What everything?” Morgan asked.
“My marriage. David’s career. The company. Lucas’s future.”
“You killed his father to protect his future?”
“Robert would have left him with nothing.”
“The trust shows otherwise.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“Robert always believed Lucas should inherit the company. He never understood who built the family around him.”
“You mean you.”
“I gave up my life.”
“And you expected payment.”
Eleanor requested a deal.
She offered to testify against Keene in exchange for immunity in Robert’s death.
Prosecutors refused.
Before the interview ended, she delivered one warning.
“David will not allow the Sentinel evidence to reach court.”
“Where is he?” Morgan asked.
Eleanor smiled.
“At the place Robert believed the company would become safe.”
Hale Tactical Systems was holding an emergency board meeting inside Hangar Nine.
General Keene had called every director.
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He planned to complete the Argent sale before federal authorities froze the company.
Continue to the next part: Lucas enters the hangar where Keene intends to force the sale of his father’s company before the evidence becomes public.
