Chapter 3 - The Smear Campaign
Eleanor Sterling was a cornered animal, and cornered animals fight dirty.
By the end of the week, Julian was out on a massive, million-dollar bail. Immediately, the Sterling PR machine went to work. They couldn't touch me on the base, so they targeted the court of public opinion.
A high-profile society magazine published an "exclusive" interview with Eleanor. The headline read: A Family Tragedy: The Mental Decline of Chloe Sterling.
The article painted Julian as a loving, exhausted husband dealing with an erratic, paranoid wife. It framed me as a "militaristic, overbearing mother" who had orchestrated a fake police raid to extort a billionaire family. Eleanor claimed that Chloe’s injuries were self-inflicted during a manic episode.
My phone rang off the hook. Base command asked for a meeting to ensure the media circus wouldn't embarrass the uniform.
"Let them talk," I told my commanding officer, General Vance, sliding a sealed envelope across his desk. "Because while they are busy talking to the tabloids, I am talking to the FBI."
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General Vance opened the envelope. Inside were the preliminary digital copies of the ledgers Chloe had photographed on her phone before Julian took it.
The General smiled. "Carry on, Colonel."
