Chapter 10 - No Immunity Between Sisters
Madison sat behind reinforced glass wearing a gray detention uniform.
Without makeup, diamonds, and the armor of a wealthy family name, she looked younger. Almost like the sister who once crawled into my bed during thunderstorms.
Almost.
A telephone rested beside the glass. I picked it up.
She did the same.
“You look tired,” she said.
“You look appropriate.”
Her lips tightened.
“I suppose you came to enjoy this.”
“I came because you said you had information.”
“I want a deal.”
“I’m not a prosecutor.”
“But they listen to you.”
“They listen to evidence.”
“I can give them evidence.”
“Then give it.”
“I want protection.”
“From whom? Hale is in custody.”
Madison laughed softly.
“You still think Hale was in charge.”
My expression did not change.
She leaned closer.
“Green Lantern existed before he joined it.”
“Who founded it?”
“I don’t know the original founders. Hale answered to a council.”
“Names.”
“I have partial names.”
“Then provide them to investigators.”
“I want written immunity.”
“You assaulted my son. You falsified defense records. You conspired with people who abducted Daniel.”
“I never ordered Daniel’s abduction.”
“You helped create the conditions for it.”
“He threatened our family.”
“He threatened your fraud.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You always thought you were morally superior.”
“No. I thought we were accountable to the same rules.”
“We never were. You were the hero. I was the daughter Dad actually loved.”
The statement surprised me.
“You believe he loved you more?”
“He trusted me with the company.”
“He gave you the company because you told him what he wanted to hear.”
“And he sent you to military school because he couldn’t stand having you at home.”
The old wound landed, but it no longer controlled me.
“I chose the academy.”
“After he suggested it.”
“Because I needed a life outside this family.”
Madison’s hand tightened around the phone.
“You left me there.”
I studied her.
“Is that what you tell yourself?”
“When you went away, everything became my responsibility. Mom’s moods. Dad’s expectations. The company. The parties. The donors.”
“You were sixteen.”
“Yes.”
For one moment, I saw the source of her resentment.
Then I remembered Ethan on the marble floor.
Pain could explain cruelty.
It did not excuse it.
“I’m sorry you felt abandoned,” I said. “But I did not force you to become this person.”
Her eyes filled with tears that might have been real.
“Hale approached me when the company was failing. He said Northgate could reduce costs. I knew some testing documents were incomplete, but I thought he would fix them.”
“And when you learned the components were deliberately compromised?”
“He told me it was a classified resilience program.”
“You believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
“Because he paid you.”
“Because without the contract, thousands of people would lose their jobs.”
“You paid yourself millions.”
“I took what everyone else took.”
There it was.
The oldest defense of corruption.
Everyone did it.
“Who sits on the council?” I asked again.
Madison lowered her voice.
“One member is connected to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Another controls a European logistics company. Hale called the highest-ranking person Shepherd.”
“Real name?”
“I never heard it.”
“Where are the records?”
“In a place only I can access.”
“Then tell investigators.”
“No immunity, no records.”
I began to lower the phone.
“Wait.”
I looked at her.
Madison’s composure cracked.
“They’ll kill me in here.”
“Then cooperate.”
“You don’t understand what they can do.”
“I understand better than you. They took my husband for three years.”
“I thought he was dead.”
“That is a lie.”
“I saw the ring. Mom gave it to me. Hale said the crash had worked.”
“And when you learned he was alive?”
She looked away.
“When?” I pressed.
“Last year.”
My hand tightened around the receiver.
“You knew for a year.”
“Hale showed me a photograph to keep me loyal.”
“You said nothing.”
“What was I supposed to do? Walk into a police station and confess everything?”
“Yes.”
“You would have done that because you enjoy sacrifice. You wear suffering like a medal.”
“No. I do it because other people pay when we choose convenience.”
Her face hardened again.
“You think Daniel is innocent? Ask him what he built for Hale.”
“He sabotaged the system.”
“Eventually. Not at first.”
I said nothing.
Madison saw she had found a fracture.
“For the first eight months, Daniel helped them,” she continued. “He designed a remote access framework.”
“Under threat.”
“Maybe. But it worked. People died because of it.”
“Who?”
“Ask him about Convoy Seven.”
The line went silent except for our breathing.
“What was Convoy Seven?”
“You should ask your perfect husband.”
A guard signaled that time was ending.
Madison pressed her palm against the glass.
“Get me immunity, Emily. I will give you Shepherd.”
“I cannot promise that.”
“You can influence it.”
“I will tell prosecutors you claim to have evidence. Nothing more.”
Her face twisted.
“You always choose strangers over family.”
“No,” I said. “I choose the people your actions harmed.”
I hung up.
Agent Brooks waited outside.
“Convoy Seven?” I asked.
Her expression told me she knew.
“What happened?”
“Two years ago, a humanitarian convoy carrying military communications equipment was attacked in Eastern Europe. Seven contractors and three soldiers were killed.”
“Was Green Lantern involved?”
“The attackers accessed route data through a compromised system.”
“Daniel’s system?”
“We don’t know.”
“Find out.”
At the hospital, Daniel was walking slowly between parallel bars when I arrived.
He saw my face and dismissed the therapist.
“Madison told you.”
“Convoy Seven.”
He sat down.
For several seconds, he stared at the floor.
“I built the access framework under duress,” he said. “Hale told me it would be used only in controlled tests.”
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
“How many people died?”
“Ten.”
The number filled the room.
“Did you know before the attack?”
“No.”
“After?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I began sabotaging every system I touched.”
“Did you report your role in the recording?”
“I documented everything.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No,” he said. “I did not describe Convoy Seven in the message intended for you.”
“Why?”
“Because I was ashamed.”
I turned away.
“Emily.”
“I spent three years imagining you as a victim.”
“I was a victim.”
“You were also involved.”
“Yes.”
The word stopped me.
No excuse.
No denial.
Just yes.
“I will testify,” he said. “I will accept whatever consequences come.”
“You could go to prison.”
“I know.”
“What about Ethan?”
“I want to be his father. But wanting something does not erase what I did.”
I looked at him.
For the first time since finding him, I believed we might have a future.
May you like
Not because he was innocent.
Because he was willing to face the truth.
