Chapter 1 - The Tray Hit the Floor
The tray hit the floor before Staff Sergeant Mara Ellis heard the man laugh.
Yellow sports drink splashed across her boots. A paper carton burst under the table. Her knee hit the polished concrete, then her palms, hard enough to send a hot shock up both arms.
“Careful, Ellis,” Gunnery Sergeant Derek Voss said. “You almost made a mess.”
Laughter exploded through the Marine cafeteria.
Mara stayed on her hands and knees. Twenty pairs of boots surrounded her. Somewhere overhead, fluorescent lights hummed like nothing had happened.
“Pick it up,” Voss said.
She raised her eyes. He was smiling down at her, broad shoulders filling her view, sleeves rolled neatly above powerful forearms. Three Marines at the next table already had their phones out.
“Didn't hear me?” he asked. “Or did they teach you something different in the rear?”
The room knew the insult. Mara had transferred from a casualty-assistance unit after returning from a deployment. Voss liked to pretend that meant she had never faced danger.
She stood slowly. Her left knee complained; she'd injured it pulling two Marines out of a burning vehicle overseas. She didn't touch the spilled food.
“I heard you, Gunny.”
“Then move.”
“Did you hit my tray on purpose?”
The laughter thinned. Voss leaned close enough that she smelled his coffee.
“You accusing me of something in front of my Marines?”
“I'm asking you a question.”
His smile vanished for a fraction of a second. Then it returned, wider.
“There's a chain of command for questions, Ellis.”
Behind him, Corporal Nina Reyes lowered her phone. Unlike the others, she hadn't been laughing. Mara caught a flash of fear across Nina's face.
Voss bent and whispered, “Keep asking and I'll make sure your little brother never gets his medical appeal approved.”
Mara went still.
Her brother Owen was a former Marine with a shattered leg, still fighting a disputed benefits determination. She had never spoken to Voss about him.
“How do you know about Owen?” she asked.
Voss straightened and raised his voice. “You got a problem with a lawful order?”
He wanted the room to hear only that.
Mara held his gaze. “No, Gunny. I have a problem with people who think nobody's watching.”
A metal chair scraped behind the crowd. Nina's phone was now hidden beneath her sleeve.
At the far entrance, First Sergeant Calvin Price appeared. His eyes moved from the spilled food to Mara's bruising hands, then to Voss.
“What's going on?” he demanded.
Voss smiled again. “Staff Sergeant Ellis had an accident, First Sergeant.”
Mara opened her mouth.
Price cut in before she could speak. “Ellis. My office. Now.”
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As Mara passed the doorway, Nina pressed a folded napkin into her palm. Three words had been scratched onto it in blue ink:
DON'T TRUST PRICE.
