Chapter 6 - The Missing Case
The ceremony was suspended.
Guests were moved into the lobby while investigators secured the auditorium.
Evelyn was taken to a small medical room backstage.
General Hayes stayed.
He explained that the black evidence case contained procurement emails, testing records, and a video confession from a Porter Aeronautics engineer.
The engineer, Marcus Vale, had discovered the cheaper transmitters could fail under extreme heat.
Derek ordered him to remove the warning from the final report.
Marcus copied everything.
He carried the case to the diplomatic compound, intending to deliver it to Hayes.
During the attack, Marcus was killed.
Before dying, he gave the case to Evelyn.
She remembered his bloodless lips forming three words.
“Don’t trust Porter.”
At the time, she thought he meant the company.
She never imagined he meant her family.
After evacuation, the case was logged by a military transport officer.
The chain of custody ended at Langley.
A transfer form claimed Evelyn personally authorized release to a civilian representative.
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
Evelyn had never seen the form.
“Who collected it?” she asked.
Hayes handed her a photograph.
Thomas stood beside a government vehicle holding the case.
Evelyn’s breath caught.
Her father had taken it.
“I was still in surgery.”
“Yes.”
“How did he know?”
“Someone contacted Porter Aeronautics before the casualty list was released.”
Derek may have received an alert through the contractor network.
Thomas flew to Virginia and claimed family authority over Evelyn’s personal effects.
The officer believed him.
The case vanished.
A week later, Marcus Vale’s widow received a settlement from Porter Aeronautics.
She signed a nondisclosure agreement.
Then she disappeared from public records.
Hayes had recently located her.
“She kept a copy of her husband’s video.”
Evelyn sat up.
“Where is she?”
“Under federal protection.”
The ceremony was designed to bring the Porter family into one place while investigators confirmed their reactions.
Linda’s assault accelerated everything.
The report was no longer only historical evidence.
May you like
It was part of an active obstruction case.
And one of the signatures on the settlement belonged to Derek.
