Chapter 7 - The Shield of the Brotherhood
The military does not take kindly to civilian attempts to discredit its general officers, especially those who earned their stars in combat zones. Less than four hours after my mother’s television interview aired, the Department of Defense Office of Public Affairs released a formal, unredacted statement to every major national news network and wire service.
I sat in General Thorne’s office at the Pentagon, watching the breaking news ticker on the wall monitors. The military spokesperson stood at the briefing podium, speaking with absolute, bureaucratic finality.
"The Department of Defense categorially rejects the defamatory statements made by the Vance family regarding the mental and physical competency of Brigadier General Elena Vance," the spokesperson read from a prepared binder. "General Vance has undergone rigorous neurological and psychiatric evaluations at Walter Reed Medical Center and has been found 100% cognitively intact and fit for administrative command."
The press corps erupted with shouted questions, but the spokesperson raised his hand, silencing the room immediately.
"Furthermore," the spokesperson continued, his voice hardening, "the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, in conjunction with federal prosecutors, has opened an active investigation into individuals attempting to fraudulently misappropriate General Vance’s service-connected casualty settlement through coercion and identity spoofing. Any attempt by civilian entities to harass, defame, or financially exploit wounded military personnel will be met with the full force of federal law."
I watched my father’s corporate stock ticker on the bottom of the screen. The moment the words "Defense Criminal Investigative Service" and "fraudulently misappropriate" hit the airwaves, Vance Enterprises stock plunged twelve percent in twenty minutes.
General Thorne poured two cups of black coffee, handing one to me as I sat comfortably in my chair. "Your mother wanted a public spectacle, Elena. She forgot that the United States Army has a much larger megaphone than a society publicist."
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"They are going to panic now, General," I said, taking a sip of the bitter coffee. "When my father realizes his lines of credit are frozen by the federal investigation, he will try to hide his assets off-shores."
"Let him try," Thorne replied with a grim, warrior’s smile. "The Treasury Department flagged his routing numbers at midnight last night. He is trapped in a box of his own making."
