Chapter 3 - The List
They met beside a vending machine in an empty training corridor. Nina kept her back against the wall, watching the exits.
“What list?” Mara asked.
Nina rubbed her thumb along the seam of her sleeve. “The Harbor Shield outreach list. Families who need help with appeals, disability claims, emergency housing. Voss runs fundraisers for them.”
Mara knew the name. Posters for Harbor Shield covered the base. Marines donated at cookouts. Local businesses sponsored its annual banquet. Its founder, retired Colonel Raymond Sutter, was famous for a battlefield rescue recounted in recruitment speeches.
“Owen called them two months ago,” Mara said. “They told him he needed a processing fee. I told him to walk away.”
“He did. That made him a problem.”
Nina showed her a printed roster, folded into quarters. On the final page were names marked in red. Owen Ellis was one. So was an older widow named Lorraine Beck. Beside Owen's name: FAMILY CONTACT—M. ELLIS. CONTAIN.
Mara read the last word twice. “Where did you get this?”
“I work admin for the fundraiser. I printed the wrong tab.”
“Why didn't you report it?”
Nina's voice dropped. “Because Lance Corporal Peter Hale reported a missing donation deposit last month. Two days later they accused him of stealing equipment. He's facing separation proceedings.”
“Do you have evidence?”
“Enough to know they're hiding something. Not enough to prove what.”
Footsteps echoed nearby. Both women straightened as a junior officer passed with a cup of coffee.
Nina waited until he vanished. “I filmed the cafeteria. You need to see it.”
“Then send it.”
“I can't. My phone uploads to a family cloud account my stepfather pays for. He knows Voss. I need to copy it safely first.”
“Don't put yourself at risk just to help me.”
“He threatened you using your brother. He told me to get close to you last week. You were always the assignment.”
Before Mara could answer, Nina's watch vibrated. She glanced down and swallowed.
“Price wants everyone who filmed the incident in the company office by fourteen hundred.”
“To get statements?” Mara asked.
“To collect phones.”
Mara's hands closed around the roster. “Then don't bring yours.”
Nina shook her head. “If I refuse, they'll know I kept the video.”
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For one second she looked twenty-two instead of the hard-working corporal Mara had come to respect.
“There's something else,” Nina said. “One of the names on this list belongs to somebody who's already dead.”
