Returning from a classified military assignment, I found my five-year-old daughter kneeling on the cold floor. A strange woman stood over her, saying, “This is the only way spoiled children learn.” She didn’t know I was a special operations officer, and she was about to find out…

If she never speaks again, I will ensure they never breathe again.

Part II: The Citadel of Truth

I navigated the treacherous Denver streets without engaging the radio. The city was lethargically pulling itself from slumber beneath a suffocating canopy of bruised, slate-grey clouds. Corporate towers in the downtown sector flickered to life; city buses continue reading …