“I will.”
“And don't argue with anybody on that road.”
He laughed.
“Why would I?”
She gave him a long look.
“Because trouble seems to recognize the men in this family.”
He kissed her forehead.
Then he walked toward his truck.
The black Ford F-150 was parked in the driveway, clean and well maintained.
He had purchased it after leaving active service.
It was one of the few expensive things he owned.
Not because he wanted attention, but because he loved the reliability of a strong truck and the freedom of driving long distances without worrying about whether the engine would fail.
He placed the breakfast bag on the passenger seat.
Beside it lay a thick brown leather portfolio.
The portfolio contained his driver's license information, vehicle documents, employment credentials, service records, and a sealed packet of official transit instructions.
The security-related documents were issued through the appropriate federal office.
Some pages were heavily redacted.
Others carried access-control references that could be verified through designated channels.
One sealed envelope contained information he was authorized to deliver directly to the facility's security administrator.
He was not supposed to open it on a public road.
And no local sheriff had authority to decide its contents were fraudulent simply because he did not understand the markings.
His access had been scheduled in advance.
The facility expected him before noon.
He had a designated check-in window.
If he failed to arrive, a security officer would begin verification procedures.
That process was ordinary for the type of facility he was visiting.
It did not automatically mean anyone was in danger.
But it meant his movements were not entirely unaccounted for.
He checked the route one final time.
Then he started the engine and drove away.
The morning sun rose over the neighborhoods as he joined the highway.
He listened to a jazz station for the first hour.
When the signal faded, he switched it off.
He liked silence.
Silence gave him room to think.
He considered his mother's story.
He considered the old invoice.
And he considered the audit findings that had brought him toward Oak Haven County in the first place.
Three months earlier, a routine federal contractor review had identified inconsistencies in equipment billed to a secure communications testing facility.
The contractor claimed to have delivered and installed multiple monitoring systems.
The receiving records suggested fewer units had arrived.
Several maintenance reports referred to devices whose identifying numbers did not correspond with the official inventory.