Chapter 9 - The Voice Behind the Wind
Sergeant Price didn't tell me the name immediately.
He led me into an empty conference room and closed the door.
“Before I say anything else,” he told me, “I need you to understand that I'm going to make a formal statement.”
“Then why are we talking here?”
“Because I owe you an apology.”
I stood beside the conference table.
He looked directly at me.
“I should've spoken sooner.”
I said nothing.
“After the incident, I believed the official report was incomplete. But I also believed the command would correct it when all the records came in.”
“And when they didn't?”
“I kept waiting.”
I felt anger tighten my chest.
“Nathan didn't have time to wait.”
Price nodded.
“I know.”
For a moment, I wanted to scream at him.
I wanted to ask how he could stand beside Nathan's coffin knowing what he knew.
Instead, I asked:
“Whose voice is on the recording?”
Price exhaled.
“Captain Andrew Keller.”
I frowned.
“Keller was the safety officer.”
“Yes.”
“Was he on the ridge?”
“Not during the initial movement.”
“Then how was his voice recorded?”
“He arrived later, during the casualty response.”
My heart accelerated.
“What did he say?”
Price looked toward the door.
“He questioned the reported time of death.”
I felt cold.
“Exactly what did he say?”
Price spoke slowly.
“He said, ‘That's not the time I documented.’”
I stared.
“Who answered?”
“Brant.”
“What did Brant say?”
Price hesitated.
“He said, ‘Use the time in the command report.’”
I gripped the chair beside me.
“Marcus, why didn't you tell investigators?”
“Because I wasn't present for that exchange. I heard it later on a recording I was directed to review.”
“Then where is the recording?”
“On a government device held by the command.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Brant has it?”
“The device is under command control. I've already requested that it be preserved.”
I stared at him.
“You made that request?”
“This morning.”
“Before formation?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you help restrain me?”
Price looked ashamed.
“Because I was ordered to escort you. I should have objected when it turned into a public spectacle.”
I looked away.
There was no easy forgiveness for that.
Not yet.
Price continued.
“I've contacted the appropriate investigative office. They're arranging to take my statement.”
I turned back.
“Will you tell them everything?”
“Yes.”
“Even your own mistakes?”
His answer was immediate.
“Especially those.”
For the first time, I believed him.
Not because he sounded brave.
Because he sounded like a man who finally understood that courage might cost him something.
That afternoon, I was informed that I would be temporarily reassigned pending review of the administrative allegations.
I wasn't arrested.
I wasn't discharged.
And Brant's public declaration hadn't stripped me of my rank.
But the humiliation remained.
So did the uncertainty.
When I returned to my apartment, I found Diane Reed sitting outside my door.
Nathan's mother looked as though she hadn't slept.
“Erin,” she said.
I hurried toward her.
“Diane, what's wrong?”
She stood.
“Someone called me.”
“Who?”
“A man who said he served with Nathan.”
I unlocked the door.
“What did he want?”
She followed me inside.
“He said I needed to ask you something.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
Diane looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“He said Nathan wasn't the only Marine who tried to stop that movement.”
I went still.
“Who else?”
May you like
She swallowed.
“Andrew Keller.”
