Chapter 6 - Someone Is Watching
Emily showed Lena the message. She did not delete it, answer it, or photograph a second screen. Lena bagged the phone temporarily for a forensic copy and gave Emily a replacement.
"Does threatening a captain count as grounds to arrest somebody?" Emily asked.
"It counts as something to investigate," Lena replied. "Don't let anger do their planning for them."
At the base, Emily found that her locker had been searched. Every item was neatly stacked, and a note claimed routine security inspection. The inventory was unsigned. Missing from the bottom drawer was a notebook where she recorded names, times, and contradictions from the convoy file.
Her closest friend, Captain Marcus Reed, met her outside the administrative building. They had served together for six years. He talked fast and kept checking behind him.
"A rumor's going around that you're being investigated for leaking classified material," he said.
"I haven't even seen the classified pages."
"I know." He swallowed. "Mercer's people are calling officers one by one. They're asking whether you've ever been unstable."
Emily felt the small, humiliating heat of it: not fear of a battle, but fear that people she trusted could be convinced she was dangerous merely because she was asking questions.
"You could stay out of this," she told Marcus.
"I could," he agreed. "But I'd have to look at myself afterward."
That night Emily stayed with Ruth off base. Her mother heated soup neither of them touched. They talked about Daniel's terrible jokes, his habit of burning toast, and the way he had never let a goodbye end without saying, "Come back with a story."
May you like
At 11:18 p.m., Marcus called from his parked car. His voice was thin.
"I found the person who filed the complaint against your medal," he said. "Emily, the name on the statement is mine."
