I stared at the folder.
For almost a year, the assignment had been uncertain.
Now it was real.
General Rhodes extended his hand.
“You earned it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Then another officer entered behind him carrying flowers from my unit.
Daniel looked as though somebody had rearranged gravity.
“You never told me you were being promoted.”
I looked at him.
“You stopped asking about my career years ago.”
“But Colonel?”
General Rhodes glanced at him.
“Is there a problem?”
Daniel swallowed.
“No, sir.”
Then the general’s eyes shifted to Lauren.
Something changed.
“Ms. Cross?”
Lauren froze.
“You two know each other?” Daniel asked.
General Rhodes did not answer him.
Instead he looked directly at Lauren.
“Lauren Cross. Lawson Strategic Solutions?”
Her face went pale.
“Yes, sir.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
General Rhodes slowly looked at him.
“Lawson Strategic Solutions is currently bidding as a subcontractor on a federal logistics modernization project.”
Daniel’s confidence disappeared.
General Rhodes continued.
“My command is responsible for oversight integrity on that procurement.”
Silence.
I looked at Daniel.
Then Lauren.
Then at the ring.
And for the first time, I saw fear in both of them.
Not embarrassment.
Fear.
General Rhodes noticed.
“Colonel Bennett,” he said carefully, “are you financially involved with Lawson Strategic Solutions?”
“No.”
“Have you ever advised the company?”
“No.”
“Authorized the company to use your military title?”
My stomach tightened.
“No.”
Daniel immediately interrupted.
“Wait.”
General Rhodes looked at him.
Daniel’s voice changed.
“It was just background information.”
“What was?”
I asked.
He looked at me.
Nothing came out.
General Rhodes’s expression hardened.
“Colonel Bennett, I believe we need to speak privately.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Leave.”
“Rebecca—”
“Leave.”
“You don’t understand.”
I pressed the call button.
“That’s becoming obvious.”
Security arrived moments later.
Daniel tried one last time.
“We need to talk before you do something you’ll regret.”
I looked at Clara.
Then back at him.
“The only decision I regret is marrying someone who thinks a woman becomes powerless just because she’s lying in a hospital bed.”
The door closed behind him.
Lauren remained.
General Rhodes looked at her.
“Ms. Cross.”
