“Who owns the building?” Thomas asked.
“No one you need to know.”
“That’s a very specific answer.”
The man glanced toward the loading door before stepping aside. Thomas left without confronting him. The man was there to delay him, not fight him.
At Old Harbor Boxing Club, Samuel showed Thomas copies of old records. The original route plan had sent the convoy through a valley. A later order redirected it through exposed ground near an abandoned checkpoint. The final report called the change authorized, but the first version had described it as unverified.
“Who approved it?” Thomas asked.
“A civilian liaison named Martin Voss signed off on the final report,” Samuel said. “He now works with private security firms. One of them is connected to Meridian.”
Samuel had also received questions from Victor Sloane, who claimed to be producing a documentary about military service. His questions had been too specific, especially about Daniel and the second route.
Elena later told Thomas that the Harrington Foundation had paid a company called Northbridge Strategy for event management and reputation services. Northbridge shared an address with a firm linked to Voss. The connection was not proof, but it was too strange to ignore.
At Apex that evening, Preston arrived without an audience. “My father says you’re trouble,” he told Thomas.
“Your father says a lot of things.”
Preston hesitated, then asked why Thomas had never seriously hurt him in the cage. “Because I didn’t need to,” Thomas repeated.
“You could teach me,” Preston said.
“You want to learn, or do you want to win?”
Preston had no answer. Thomas told him to return when he understood the difference.
For once, Preston did not argue. He walked away with his pride wounded, but something else had begun to replace it: curiosity that was not entirely about himself.
Richard Harrington summoned Preston to his glass-walled office and told him to repair the damage caused by the viral video. Preston was to apologize to the gym, the foundation’s board, and anyone else whose opinion might affect the family’s reputation.
“Do you know who Decker is?” Preston asked.
Richard’s expression hardened. “I know enough to understand that he is a problem. Stay away from him.”
It was the first time Preston had seen something like fear behind his father’s certainty.
Meanwhile, Elena interviewed a former director of a youth sports program funded by the Harrington Foundation. The woman described publicity agreements that let Northbridge Strategy film athletes and reuse their personal stories indefinitely. Some participants had been minors. When staff complained, they were told the paperwork was clear.
Elena brought the findings to Thomas. “You don’t have to invent a lie if you can choose which truths people see,” she said.
At Apex, Dmitri announced that the gym would not host another exhibition without independent review of the charity arrangements and clear consent from every participant. Richard responded by suspending the next sponsorship payment. The gym faced a financial crisis, but its members began volunteering and donating what they could.
Preston found Greg Mason in the locker room and apologized for humiliating him during sparring. Greg did not forgive him immediately. “I don’t forgive you just because you finally got embarrassed yourself,” he said.
“I understand,” Preston answered, though he was only beginning to.
That evening, Samuel sent Thomas a scan of an original route-change memo. The signature was smudged, but a handwritten note remained legible: PROCEED AS ARRANGED.
Thomas stared at the words. He had spent years believing the ambush was a tragedy made worse by a careless investigation. Now it seemed possible that someone had planned the route change and then made sure the official story erased the evidence.
He called Samuel. “We need every version of the report.”
“I’m trying to get them,” Samuel replied. “But someone else is looking, too.”
Thomas looked toward the window. Across the street, a dark vehicle sat with its lights off. It pulled away just as he noticed it.
The past had stopped being a memory. It had become an active opponent.
Richard Harrington summoned Preston to his glass-walled office and told him to repair the damage caused by the viral video. Preston was to apologize to the gym, the foundation’s board, and anyone else whose opinion might affect the family’s reputation.
“Do you know who Decker is?” Preston asked.
Richard’s expression hardened. “I know enough to understand that he is a problem. Stay away from him.”
It was the first time Preston had seen something like fear behind his father’s certainty.
Meanwhile, Elena interviewed a former director of a youth sports program funded by the Harrington Foundation. The woman described publicity agreements that let Northbridge Strategy film athletes and reuse their personal stories indefinitely. Some participants had been minors. When staff complained, they were told the paperwork was clear.
Elena brought the findings to Thomas. “You don’t have to invent a lie if you can choose which truths people see,” she said.
At Apex, Dmitri announced that the gym would not host another exhibition without independent review of the charity arrangements and clear consent from every participant. Richard responded by suspending the next sponsorship payment. The gym faced a financial crisis, but its members began volunteering and donating what they could.
Preston found Greg Mason in the locker room and apologized for humiliating him during sparring. Greg did not forgive him immediately. “I don’t forgive you just because you finally got embarrassed yourself,” he said.