Chapter 6 - A Charge With Her Name on It
By morning, three statements described Avery as unstable, violent, and obsessed with revenge. Briggs claimed she had injured him without provocation. Price said Ortiz had volunteered for a counseling meeting. Mercer said he'd never invited Avery to the motor pool.
The investigator read each statement in a flat voice. Avery requested counsel and declined to sign the summary.
Hale visited her in the holding room. "I kept my body camera on."
"Show the footage."
"They confiscated it. Said I recorded in a restricted area."
"Did you back it up?"
Hale met her eyes. "My granddaughter taught me one useful thing about technology."
That was the first good news Avery had heard since arriving.
The second came from Captain Maya Chen, a military defense attorney with a neat stack of files and no patience for rank used as a threat. Chen placed a paper cup of coffee before Avery.
"You have witnesses," Chen said. "Now we need witnesses who can survive telling the truth."
Avery told her about Daniel, the forged inventory order, and Bell's dog tag. Chen listened without interrupting.
"We file preservation demands today. We also go outside the brigade chain. Criminal Investigation Division, inspector general, and the medical command."
"Mercer knows all three routes."
"Then we use all three anyway."
Across base, Hale confronted a room of trainees. "Anyone with a recording of yesterday's sparring session, tell me now. No heroics. Just the truth."
No hands rose. One soldier looked down at his shoes. Another glanced at the camera in the ceiling.
Avery was released to quarters under orders not to contact the trainees. As she entered, her phone vibrated with a message from an unknown number.
I WAS THERE THE NIGHT DANIEL DIED.
She replied: Who are you?
A photo arrived. It showed the underside of a vehicle, a severed brake line, and a hand holding a wrench. A date stamp matched the crash.
Then another message.
May you like
YOUR BROTHER DID NOT GET INTO THAT TRUCK ALIVE.
Avery read it twice. She heard footsteps outside her door. The handle turned slowly, though she had locked it from within.
