Chapter 9 — Just a Ghost

Seven years later.

It was a crisp, brilliant autumn afternoon in Washington. The oaks along the National Mall blazed orange and red and gold.

I walked through a park near the Capitol, a coffee in one hand, my other hand held by my laughing seven-year-old twins, who were on a mission to stomp every crunchy leaf in our path.

I was in civilian clothes — a tailored camel coat over a dark dress — having just left a three-hour closed-door Senate hearing where the Armed Services Committee had unanimously confirmed me to lead a new global cybersecurity and counter-terrorism task force.

I was no longer a colonel. Beneath the coat, pinned to my dress, was the single silver star of a brigadier general.

At a busy crosswalk the signal flashed red. I paused, pulling the twins close, adjusting my daughter’s scarf.