Chapter 9 - THE REAL REASON DUSTIN DATED HER
I wanted to believe the photograph was coincidence.
It wasn’t.
Nothing that had happened was coincidence anymore.
I turned toward Dustin.
“How long have you had this?”
“Two months.”
“And you never told Evelyn?”
His eyes dropped.
That was answer enough.
“Why were you in Victor’s office?”
“He asked me to do something.”
“What?”
Silence.
Rick swore.
“Tell him.”
Dustin finally looked at me.
“He wanted me to get close to Evelyn.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“You didn’t meet her by accident.”
“No.”
I opened the truck door.
Rick caught my arm.
“Frank.”
I stopped.
Barely.
Dustin continued quickly.
“Victor knew she was your daughter.”
“From the beginning?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn had thought she met Dustin at a charity fitness event.
He had introduced himself.
Bought her coffee.
Made her laugh.
She had told Eleanor she finally met someone spontaneous.
None of it had been spontaneous.
“Why?”
“I was supposed to learn about you.”
“For Victor?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“Your routines. Your friends. People from your old unit.”
I stared at him.
“And Evelyn?”
“At first she was just access.”
At first.
Those words made my stomach turn.
“What changed?”
Dustin rubbed both hands over his face.
“I actually fell for her.”
“You broke her ribs.”
“I know.”
“You gave her a concussion.”
“I know!”
His voice cracked.
For the first time, the tough fighter vanished completely.
“I know what I did!”
I didn’t care about his guilt.
Not yet.
Maybe never.
“What happened that night?”
“She confronted me.”
“About what?”
“She found Victor’s payments through her company. Then she found messages proving I was supposed to watch you.”
That betrayal must have destroyed her before the first punch ever landed.
“She said she was taking everything to federal authorities.”
“And you attacked her.”
Dustin’s eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to take the drive. She slapped me. I grabbed her. She fell. Then I…”
He stopped.
I waited.
“I lost control.”
There it was.
Not an accident.
Not self-defense.
A choice.
Several choices.
Harris spoke through the phone.
“Frank, I need Dustin alive and talking.”
“So does my daughter.”
Dustin nodded slowly.
Then he said, “There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“Victor never cared about your training records.”
“What did he want?”
Dustin pointed at the photograph.
“There was an operation before you became an instructor.”
My heartbeat changed.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“What operation?”
Dustin whispered the name.
Operation Lantern.
I hadn’t heard those words in sixteen years.
Only seven people were supposed to know that mission existed.
Three were dead.
One was missing.
And one was Colonel Briggs.
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But the secret Dustin revealed next was worse.
“Victor says you took something from that operation.”
