Chapter 25 - VALE
Nathan Vale had been the hero of 2009.
At least on paper.
He shut down the program.
Removed Keystone.
Ordered files sealed.
Approved Daniel's transfer.
And disappeared into retirement.
David Hale looked around the underground room.
“Vale didn't kill the program.”
Daniel stared at the photograph.
“He moved it.”
David nodded.
“Outside government oversight.”
Leah folded her arms.
“Why?”
“Money.”
Marcus frowned.
“That's it?”
David looked at him.
“Money is usually enough.”
He explained.
Private firms wanted security personnel screened faster.
Companies wanted employees who wouldn't freeze.
Contractors wanted people who could continue functioning under extreme pressure.
Vale saw a market.
Voss built the system.
Carver supplied bodies.
David evaluated them.
“At first.”
Daniel looked at him.
“And then?”
“Then I realized they weren't just screening.”
David looked toward Dustin's photograph.
“They were shaping.”
Carver would identify weaknesses.
Pride.
Fear.
Need for money.
Need for approval.
Then training was adjusted to push those weaknesses.
Dustin was one of them.
Not as a child.
Later.
As a fighter.
“Carver knew exactly what made him angry.”
Leah's face tightened.
“And used it.”
“Yes.”
Daniel spoke quietly.
“That doesn't excuse what Dustin did.”
David looked at him.
“I know.”
For the first time, his voice broke.
“He chose to hit your daughter.”
Silence.
“And I chose to disappear instead of coming home.”
Leah asked the question.
“Why?”
David looked at the floor.
“Because Vale showed me photographs of Dustin.”
School.
Gym.
Home.
“I believed if I vanished, they'd lose interest.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“They didn't.”
“No.”
David looked at Dustin's picture.
“They found a better use for him.”
Then Marcus pointed at the wall.
“What's this?”
A column of names.
Six fighters.
Two police officers.
Three military veterans.
One firefighter.
Beside each:
TRANSFERRED.
Marcus looked at David.
“Transferred where?”
David's face went pale.
“I never found out.”
Daniel followed the red line.
May you like
It led to one word.
SITE 6.
