"Because your father filed a complaint two days later."
Sarah froze.
"Against who?"
Hayes placed the final document down.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Vance.
Former deputy commander of the training program.
Sarah knew the name.
Everybody did.
General Robert Vance was currently one of the most respected retired military commentators in the country.
William had accused Vance of altering evaluations to remove candidates he personally considered unsuitable.
Sarah stared.
"Why?"
Avery answered.
"Politics."
She laughed once.
"That's vague."
"Connections. Personal preferences. Unit rivalries."
Sarah looked at Daniel's file.
"So Dad tried to stop it."
"Yes."
"What happened?"
Hayes hesitated.
"The complaint disappeared."
Sarah looked up.
"What?"
Avery's face hardened.
"William left the program six weeks later."
Sarah had always believed her father left because he wanted less travel.
That was what he told Diane.
That was what he told Sarah.
"He never said."
Avery nodded.
"That sounds like William."
Sarah felt angry.
Not at Vance.
At her father.
Even dead, he was still withholding pieces.
Hayes said, "There's more."
Of course there was.
Daniel Bennett had found out.
Years later.
He contacted William.
Sarah looked up sharply.
"When?"
"Five years ago."
Before Daniel died.
Hayes handed her a printed email.
Daniel wrote that he had received copies of his original evaluation.
He apologized for blaming William.
He asked to speak.
William responded.
Three words.
Call me anytime.
Sarah read it twice.
Then another email.
Daniel:
I don't know how to fix what happened.
William:
Start with tomorrow.
Sarah stopped breathing.
There were messages over eight months.
Short.
Not frequent.
But consistent.
William had been talking to Daniel Bennett before Daniel died.
Sarah covered her mouth.
Avery looked away.
Hayes said gently, "Your father tried to help him."
Sarah swallowed.
"Did Cole know?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"We don't know."
Sarah stood.
"I need to tell him."
Hayes nodded.
Bennett was in physical therapy.
Sarah waited until he finished.
He walked out slowly.
No sling now.
Still stiff.
He saw her face.
"What happened?"
Sarah held the folder.
They went outside.
She didn't soften it.
"Daniel passed my father's evaluation."
Bennett stared.
"What?"
She handed him the paper.
He read.
His hands began shaking.
"No."
Sarah waited.
"This is wrong."
"It's the original."
Bennett read again.
"He told us he failed."
"He was removed later."
"Why?"
"Someone altered the record."
Bennett looked up.
His face had gone pale.
Sarah explained.
Not everything.
Enough.
Then she handed him the emails.
He read the first.