Chapter 2 - A Ghost in Uniform
Avery knew the face instantly: Colonel Daniel Rourke, her former commander, the man whose funeral she had attended eighteen months earlier. He stood in a plain field uniform by the exit, older and leaner, with a scar cutting across his left eyebrow. His eyes warned her not to say his name.
Two military police officers entered. Mercer stepped between them and Avery. “She didn't assault me. That was the counter-grab we practiced.”
“Move,” Voss ordered.
“Sir, there's a waiver,” Mercer said. “I signed it.”
“Then you'll sign a new statement saying she ignored the stop command.”
Avery stared at Voss. “Nobody gave a stop command.”
“That's not what the official footage will show.”
Rourke shifted near the door. “Captain, the exercise is mine to review.” His voice was rough but unmistakable.
Voss went rigid. “You're not supposed to be on this installation.”
“Neither is a camera that turns itself off when a woman wins.”
The observers looked up. A young private named Mateo Ruiz glanced toward a small monitor near the equipment lockers. His face changed. Before Avery could see what was on it, the screen went blank.
The MPs reached for her arms. She let them take her. Fighting now would only hand Voss the story he wanted.
As she passed Mercer, he whispered, “I didn't know.”
“Know what?”
“That they put your sister's name on the sign-in sheet.”
Avery's feet almost stopped. Her younger sister, Emma, had disappeared during a military-contracting investigation eight months earlier. There had been no sign-in sheet, no official trace, no explanation that held together.
At the hall intersection, Rourke fell into step beside the MPs just long enough to speak under his breath.
“Don't trust the holding room,” he said. “And whatever happens, don't let them search your boots.”
May you like
Avery looked down. Tucked beneath the tongue of her right combat boot was a thin piece of plastic she had found in her locker that morning.
A red dot appeared briefly on the far wall, moving at the same speed as her chest.
