Chapter 5 - Downstairs
Avery and Hale reached the barracks less than four minutes later. Ortiz's door hung open. A chair lay broken. Her phone was on the floor, still recording.
Avery pressed play. First came hurried footsteps. Then a man's voice: "You were told to delete it." Ortiz answered, "I already sent it." A scuffle followed, and a door clicked shut.
"Downstairs," Hale said. "The service level connects to the old simulation wing."
They followed a trail of white medical tape, one piece every few yards. Ortiz had left markers while someone marched her away.
Behind the steel door to the simulation wing, a man said, "Unlock your phone."
"I don't have the file anymore," Ortiz replied.
Avery signaled for Hale to call the installation duty officer. Then she rapped sharply on the door. "Medical emergency. Open up."
Silence.
"I know you're in there, Briggs."
The door opened six inches. Briggs filled the gap. "This is an authorized training debrief."
"At midnight? With no instructor?"
Avery pushed inside before he could shut it. Ortiz was seated at a desk, wrists red where someone had gripped them. A second man stood by a computer. Avery recognized him from the training roster: Lieutenant Nolan Price, Mercer’s aide.
Price raised both hands. "Misunderstanding."
"Stand away from the computer," Hale ordered.
On the screen was Ortiz's cloud account. A video thumbnail showed Briggs striking Velez while she lay on the mat, long after the whistle.
Briggs lunged for the keyboard. Avery blocked his arm, pivoted, and used his forward momentum to place him against the wall. No flashy throw. No broken bones. Only a controlled hold and a clear order to stop resisting.
"You touched an officer," Briggs snarled.
"You tried to destroy evidence."
A base patrol arrived. For one hopeful minute Avery thought the worst was over.
Then the patrol leader stepped between her and the computer. "Captain, Command has ordered you relieved pending an investigation into assaulting Sergeant Briggs."
"He abducted a witness."
"That's not what the complaint says."
The officer cuffed her wrists loosely but firmly. Ortiz shouted her name. Hale demanded the officer's orders in writing.
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As they escorted Avery upstairs, she saw Price pull a flash drive from the computer. He held it up for Mercer, who had appeared at the hall entrance.
Mercer took it, smiled at Avery, and snapped it in half.
