The name on Detective Alvarez's pad was Ethan Keene.<\/p>\n
Thirty-four years old.<\/p>\n
Civilian employee.<\/p>\n
Personnel support contractor.<\/p>\n
Fort Sill.<\/p>\n
Travis read it twice.<\/p>\n
His first reaction was anger.<\/p>\n
His second was worse.<\/p>\n
Recognition of how easy it might have been.<\/p>\n
He had spent years believing military information was protected because some of it lived behind passwords, badges, offices and procedures.<\/p>\n
But not every useful fact was classified.<\/p>\n
Not even close.<\/p>\n
A leave date did not look dangerous by itself.<\/p>\n
Neither did an emergency contact.<\/p>\n
Neither did a home address.<\/p>\n
Neither did a deployment roster posted for coordination.<\/p>\n
Combined, however, ordinary information could become a schedule of vulnerability.<\/p>\n
Alvarez was already coordinating with federal and military investigators in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n
Travis wanted to call Fort Sill again.<\/p>\n
Hale stopped him.<\/p>\n
"You've notified your chain. Let the investigators work."<\/p>\n
"He could still have access."<\/p>\n
"Possibly."<\/p>\n
"Then every minute matters."<\/p>\n
"And an uncoordinated accusation could warn him."<\/p>\n
Travis hated the logic.<\/p>\n
He followed it anyway.<\/p>\n
Bethany sat at Melissa's table with both hands wrapped around cold coffee.<\/p>\n
"Marla's son," she said.<\/p>\n
"Looks that way."<\/p>\n
"Did Kurt ever mention him?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"You sure?"<\/p>\n
She thought.<\/p>\n
"Maybe not by name."<\/p>\n
"What do you remember?"<\/p>\n
"Kurt talked about somebody in Oklahoma."<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at her.<\/p>\n
"When?"<\/p>\n
"A few times."<\/p>\n
"What did he say?"<\/p>\n
"That he had a guy who could tell him when people were actually gone."<\/p>\n
Travis stared.<\/p>\n
"You never thought that was strange?"<\/p>\n
Bethany's face tightened.<\/p>\n
"I thought he was talking about property work."<\/p>\n
"Property managers don't usually need military leave dates."<\/p>\n
"I didn't know he was getting military leave dates."<\/p>\n
Travis looked away.<\/p>\n
Hale intervened before the argument became useless.<\/p>\n
"What exact phrase did he use?"<\/p>\n
Bethany concentrated.<\/p>\n
"He called him E."<\/p>\n
"E?"<\/p>\n
"Yeah."<\/p>\n
"Anything else?"<\/p>\n
"He said E hated being treated like some nobody behind a desk."<\/p>\n
Alvarez wrote that down.<\/p>\n
"Useful."<\/p>\n
Travis paced once across the kitchen, then stopped.<\/p>\n
"Why would Ethan help him?"<\/p>\n
"We don't know yet."<\/p>\n
"Money?"<\/p>\n
"Possible."<\/p>\n
"Family?"<\/p>\n
"Possible."<\/p>\n
"His mother?"<\/p>\n
"Also possible."<\/p>\n
Travis exhaled sharply.<\/p>\n
Hale gave him a look.<\/p>\n
"You're doing it again."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Trying to solve motive before we have evidence."<\/p>\n
He rubbed both hands over his face.<\/p>\n
"Feels better than waiting."<\/p>\n
"Most mistakes do."<\/p>\n
Kaylee came into the kitchen carrying the wooden Noah's ark.<\/p>\n
Melissa had apparently brought it in from Travis's truck.<\/p>\n
"Daddy."<\/p>\n
He crouched.<\/p>\n
"You found it."<\/p>\n
"Two giraffes."<\/p>\n
"Told you."<\/p>\n
"One zebra bad."<\/p>\n
"We've established this."<\/p>\n
She handed him the zebra.<\/p>\n
"Fix."<\/p>\n
Travis stared at the little painted animal.<\/p>\n
"How?"<\/p>\n
"Make another."<\/p>\n
"That's a manufacturing problem."<\/p>\n
Kaylee frowned.<\/p>\n
"Make."<\/p>\n
He nodded solemnly.<\/p>\n
"Understood."<\/p>\n
She wandered away.<\/p>\n
Bethany watched her go.<\/p>\n
"She missed you."<\/p>\n
Travis did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n
"I missed her too."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
That was all either of them could manage.<\/p>\n
At 3:41, Alvarez received the first update from Oklahoma.<\/p>\n
Ethan Keene had been located at work.<\/p>\n
He had not run.<\/p>\n
He had not refused questioning.<\/p>\n
He had apparently looked confused when investigators approached him.<\/p>\n
Travis did not find that reassuring.<\/p>\n
People who committed fraud rarely wore signs.<\/p>\n
An hour later, the picture became more complicated.<\/p>\n
Ethan admitted knowing Kurt Voss.<\/p>\n
He denied giving him protected personnel records.<\/p>\n
He admitted providing "general information."<\/p>\n
"What does general mean?" Travis asked.<\/p>\n
Alvarez read from the preliminary summary.<\/p>\n
"Ethan says Kurt asked whether certain soldiers were deployed or likely to return soon."<\/p>\n
Travis laughed once.<\/p>\n
"That's not general."<\/p>\n
"Ethan claims he only confirmed information Kurt already knew."<\/p>\n
"Still not okay."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Did he access files?"<\/p>\n
"They're auditing."<\/p>\n
Bethany asked, "How did he know Kurt?"<\/p>\n
Alvarez continued.<\/p>\n
"Through Marla."<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
Marla Keene had introduced them approximately two years earlier.<\/p>\n
She had known Kurt through Gary Blevins.<\/p>\n
The network did not appear hierarchical.<\/p>\n
It looked social.<\/p>\n
Friends.<\/p>\n
Former colleagues.<\/p>\n
People doing favors.<\/p>\n
That somehow made it more disturbing.<\/p>\n
Criminal conspiracies sounded dramatic.<\/p>\n
A circle of ordinary people casually sharing access was much more believable.<\/p>\n
Alvarez read further.<\/p>\n
"Ethan says Kurt told him he was helping military families with property and relocation issues."<\/p>\n
Travis stared.<\/p>\n
"Red Arrow Veterans Assistance."<\/p>\n
Hale nodded.<\/p>\n
"Likely."<\/p>\n
The fake-sounding organization suddenly had a purpose.<\/p>\n
Legitimacy.<\/p>\n
If Kurt presented himself as someone helping service members during deployments, questions about absence might not sound suspicious.<\/p>\n
"When did Ethan first give him information?" Travis asked.<\/p>\n
"Audit isn't complete."<\/p>\n
"What does Ethan say?"<\/p>\n
"About a year ago."<\/p>\n
Daniel Reese.<\/p>\n
The timeline fit.<\/p>\n
Travis leaned against the counter.<\/p>\n
"Did he get paid?"<\/p>\n
"Ethan denies cash payments."<\/p>\n
"Anything else?"<\/p>\n
"Trips. Meals. A used motorcycle part."<\/p>\n
Hale raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n
"Benefits don't have to arrive in envelopes."<\/p>\n
Bethany whispered, "He made people feel like favors weren't favors."<\/p>\n
Travis looked at her.<\/p>\n
"What does that mean?"<\/p>\n
"Kurt always kept score without saying he was keeping score."<\/p>\n
She thought for a moment.<\/p>\n
"If he fixed your car, you'd owe him. If he bought dinner, you'd owe him. If he introduced you to somebody useful, you'd owe him. But he never said it until he needed something."<\/p>\n
Travis understood.<\/p>\n
The network might not be built on equal criminal intent.<\/p>\n
Kurt may have cultivated obligation.<\/p>\n
Alvarez's phone rang again.<\/p>\n
This call lasted longer.<\/p>\n
His face changed halfway through.<\/p>\n
"What?" Travis asked when it ended.<\/p>\n
"They reviewed Ethan's recent system activity."<\/p>\n
"And?"<\/p>\n
"There are unauthorized searches."<\/p>\n
The room went still.<\/p>\n
"Mine?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Donovan?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Reese?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Travis's stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
"How far back?"<\/p>\n
"At least eleven months."<\/p>\n
That moved Ethan from careless confirmation toward something more serious.<\/p>\n
"Did he admit it?"<\/p>\n
"Not yet."<\/p>\n
"Can they prove it?"<\/p>\n
"Logs don't forget."<\/p>\n
Travis's father, seated near the window, gave the faintest nod.<\/p>\n
Paper remembers.<\/p>\n
Systems did too.<\/p>\n
Alvarez continued.<\/p>\n
"Some searches involved records Ethan had no business reason to access."<\/p>\n
"Which records?"<\/p>\n
"Emergency contact data. Assignment information. Leave entries."<\/p>\n
Travis felt heat rise in his face.<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
The source.<\/p>\n
At least one of them.<\/p>\n
"Arrest?"<\/p>\n
"Not yet."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because investigators are deciding how much to reveal and whether he can lead them to Kurt."<\/p>\n
Travis understood the tactic immediately.<\/p>\n
"Use him."<\/p>\n
"If appropriate."<\/p>\n
"Does Ethan know Kurt is running?"<\/p>\n
"Apparently not."<\/p>\n
That was interesting.<\/p>\n
Bethany looked at Alvarez.<\/p>\n
"Could he contact him?"<\/p>\n
"Probably."<\/p>\n
"Then Kurt might call."<\/p>\n
"Exactly."<\/p>\n
The investigation had finally acquired a path forward.<\/p>\n
Not merely evidence of what had happened.<\/p>\n
A possible way to reach the person who had disappeared.<\/p>\n
At 5:10, Oklahoma investigators asked Ethan to place a controlled call.<\/p>\n
He agreed after speaking with counsel.<\/p>\n
Travis was not permitted to listen live.<\/p>\n
That nearly drove him insane.<\/p>\n
He had to sit in Melissa's living room while strangers hundreds of miles away spoke to the man who had invaded his home.<\/p>\n
Kaylee climbed onto his lap with a coloring book.<\/p>\n
He colored a horse blue.<\/p>\n
She objected.<\/p>\n
"Horse brown."<\/p>\n
"This horse made choices."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
She replaced his crayon.<\/p>\n
"Brown."<\/p>\n
Travis obeyed.<\/p>\n
Twenty-seven minutes later, Alvarez's phone rang.<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at him.<\/p>\n
He listened.<\/p>\n
Then closed his eyes briefly.<\/p>\n
"Kurt answered."<\/p>\n
Bethany stood.<\/p>\n
"What did he say?"<\/p>\n
"Ethan told him there was chatter at Fort Sill and asked if he needed help."<\/p>\n
"And?"<\/p>\n
"Kurt said he was fine."<\/p>\n
"Location?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Did he ask for anything?"<\/p>\n
Alvarez looked directly at Travis.<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"A schedule."<\/p>\n
Travis's stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
"Whose?"<\/p>\n
"Yours."<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Kurt still wanted to know when Travis would be back at Fort Sill.<\/p>\n
Not because he was finished with him.<\/p>\n
Because whatever Kurt intended next apparently depended on Travis leaving Missouri again.<\/p>\n
The name on Detective Alvarez's pad was Ethan Keene. Thirty-four years old. Civilian employee. Personnel support contractor. Fort Sill. Travis read it twice. His first reaction was anger. His second … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12770,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12742\/revisions\/12770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}