29 My Commander Projected My Face On A Screen And Called Me A Traitor — He Didn't Know The Original Recording Still Had My Father's Voice On It

Elena called her father's oldest friend that night.

His name was William Apodaca. He was seventy-nine years old. He had been a contract interpreter for the U.S. Army for thirty-seven years. He had worked with Rafael Vega in Kabul, in Baghdad, and at Fort Belvoir. He had retired in 2022. He lived in Albuquerque with his wife and his dog and a garden full of chilies.

Elena had not spoken to him since her father's funeral.

She called him at 19:15.

"Elena," Apodaca said. "Mija. It has been too long."

"Tío William."

"What is wrong?"

She told him.

She told him about the auditorium. She told him about the recording. She told him about the phrase. She told him about the voice on the original recording — the voice that had been identified by the technician as her father's voice. She told him about the second voice — the harder voice, the American voice, the voice that had changed the target from Koh-e Safi to Deh Bala. She told him about Special Agent Cho. She told him about Marcus Webb. She told him about the eight-month investigation. She told him about the eleven people who had died in Deh Bala, and about the six children.

She told him that the FBI was looking for a recording of Marcus Webb's voice.

Apodaca was quiet for a long time.

"Mija," he said finally, "I need to tell you something."

"What, Tío?"

"Your father knew."

"Knew what?"

"Your father knew that Webb was dirty. He knew it before he retired. He knew it before the mission. He knew it in 2018, when he was working at Fort Belvoir on a different intercept and he heard Webb's voice on a channel that he should not have been on. He heard Webb speaking to a man in Dubai. He heard Webb give the man a name. He heard Webb give the man a location. And he reported it."

Elena's heart stopped.

"He reported it?"

"He reported it to his supervisor. His supervisor told him he was mistaken. His supervisor told him he was tired. His supervisor told him that he was a contract interpreter who did not understand the way things worked in a combat theater. And then his supervisor transferred him. And then his supervisor transferred him again. And then his supervisor transferred him a third time. And then, in 2021, his supervisor told him that his contract was not going to be renewed."

"Tío William—"

"Mija, listen to me. Your father kept a copy. He kept a copy of the intercept. He kept a copy of the recording of Webb's voice on the channel he should not have been on. He kept it on a small USB drive. He kept the drive in a safe deposit box in Tucson. He told me about it in 2022. He told me that he was keeping it for you. He told me that he was keeping it because one day you might need it. He told me that he was keeping it because he did not trust anyone else to keep it."

Elena was crying.

"Tío, where is the drive now?"

"I do not know, Mija. Your father told me the name of the bank. He told me the branch. He told me the box number. But he did not give me the key. He told me the key was with his will. He told me the key was in an envelope in his apartment. He told me that when he died, the envelope would go to you. He told me that he had already arranged it with his lawyer."

Elena's breath caught.

"His lawyer. Tío, who was his lawyer?"

"His lawyer was a woman named Rosa Delgado. She is in Tucson. She handled his will. She handled his estate. She handled everything. I do not have her number. But you can find her. She is on Google."

Elena wrote the name down on the back of an envelope.

"Tío," she said, "thank you."

"Do not thank me, Mija. Thank your father. Your father kept the drive because he knew that one day you would need it. Your father kept the drive because he loved you. Your father kept the drive because he was a good man and because he was a good interpreter and because he was not going to let a man like Marcus Webb destroy the career of a woman like you."

Elena hung up the phone.

She called Rosa Delgado.

Rosa Delgado answered on the third ring.

"Rosa Delgado."

"Ms. Delgado, my name is Elena Vega. I am the daughter of Rafael Vega."