The unmarked envelope arrived without a trace. Inside was a USB drive and four words that shattered Evelyn Blackwood’s reality: They killed your father.
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Blackwood had supposedly died in a training accident six years earlier. The case was closed quickly, the honors were formal, and the truth was buried. But when Evelyn—now an investigative journalist with a background in military intelligence—opened the encrypted files on an isolated laptop, everything unraveled.
The documents exposed Thornhill Defense Industries for using substandard materials in military aircraft, leading to deadly crashes and massive cover-ups. Buried deeper was an “Asset Neutralization Log”—a ledger of staged deaths. Her father’s name was on it. His “accident” had been an execution for uncovering corruption.
With the help of her mentor, retired Colonel Harrison Grayson, Evelyn realized publishing too soon could get her killed. That fear became real when threats appeared—photos from inside her apartment, a clear warning to disappear. Instead, she went underground, protected by former military allies who knew her father.
When a hit team closed in, it confirmed the truth: the story was bigger than journalism—it was war.
The trail led west, to the hidden engineer who survived one of the crashes and to an unexpected ally: Nathaniel Thornhill, the founder’s son. He revealed his mother had gathered the original evidence—and now feared for her family. He handed Evelyn recordings of his father ordering murders, including Thomas Blackwood’s.
As armed operatives closed in again, Evelyn made her decision.
She would go public—immediately and everywhere.
“We don’t wait,” she said. “Once this is out, they can’t erase it.”
With her finger poised over the upload command, Evelyn understood the cost. But for the first time since her father’s death, she wasn’t afraid.
The truth was no longer hiding.