"Mom," she said quietly, "did you know what Dad really did in the military?"
Monica's expression was complicated. "I knew parts. What he let me know. The rest..." She shook her head. "Some ghosts are better left undisturbed."
But the ghosts were no longer resting. They were rising, gathering, preparing to confront those who thought themselves beyond accountability. And as Detective Ross made his way through the back entrance of the police station well after midnight, keycard in hand and determination in his eyes, the next phase of Caleb's plan began to unfold. The ghost of war was about to show Westfield why governments once feared his name.
Past midnight, the Westfield police station stood quiet, most officers gone for the day, leaving only a skeleton crew for the night shift. Detective Marcus Ross entered through the rear entrance, nodding to Officer Santiago, who had accidentally left his keycard on the desk before stepping away for a coffee break. The night duty officer suddenly discovered computer issues requiring his attention away from the monitoring station—a convenient distraction orchestrated by Ross hours earlier.
In the holding cell, Caleb Carter sat in meditation-like stillness, eyes closed, breathing measured. An observer might mistake his calm for resignation, but his mind was mapping every sound, every footstep, every electronic hum in the building. He opened his eyes only when Ross appeared outside the cell.
"You have twenty minutes before shift change," Ross explained, deactivating the electronic lock with the borrowed keycard.
Caleb rose smoothly. "Technically, this is a jailbreak."
Ross shook his head. "No paperwork was filed. Officially, you were never here."
As they moved through the station, Caleb navigated through blind spots in the camera coverage, paths he'd memorized during his brief detention simply by observing the building's layout and security systems.
"Judge Klein has already drafted an emergency restraining order," Ross explained as they exited through a service door. "It would prevent you from coming within a thousand feet of Logan or the school."
"They've weaponized the legal system," Caleb noted without surprise. "Fortunately, I specialize in asymmetric warfare."