Chapter 4 - The Door in the Dark
Mara didn't move toward the door. She moved away from it, to the wall where she could see the thin stripe of corridor light.
The handle turned again. A metal object whispered against the lock.
"Maintenance," a man called.
"Then identify your work order."
Silence. Footsteps retreated. The power returned thirty seconds later.
When Turner arrived, Mara showed her scratches beside the keyhole. Turner photographed them without commentary.
"This wasn't random," Mara said.
"I know. The outage affected only this building."
At 1900, Rourke met Mara beside the closed base chapel. He wore civilian clothes and the tired face of a man who hadn't slept well in years.
"Adam came to me," he said. "Said someone was signing for replacement parts that never reached the repair bays. I told him to put it in writing."
"And?"
"He did. The report vanished. He called me the night he died. I let it go to voicemail because I was with my daughter in the emergency room."
His guilt wasn't theatrical. That made it worse.
"What did he say?" Mara asked.
"He said, 'They aren't stealing parts. They're replacing the serial numbers.'"
Mara felt the words settle. Counterfeit components in military trucks could turn inventory theft into a deadly safety problem.
"Who signed the maintenance approvals?"
Rourke looked across the chapel lawn. "A civilian office controls vendor acceptance. But my deputy certifies readiness."
"Major Harlan?"
He nodded.
"Then why didn't you go higher?"
"I did. The investigator they sent closed it in a week. He was later hired by the same contractor."
They parted without a handshake. At 2350 Mara approached Bay 6 and saw truck 214 parked under a naked work lamp.
Navarro stood beside it, pale and shivering.
"I told you to come alone," he said.
"I am alone."
"No," he whispered, staring over her shoulder. "You aren't."
May you like
The bay doors slammed shut.
