Chapter 1 - The Folder on the Table
The general slapped a manila folder onto the conference table hard enough to make Captain Mara Voss flinch.
“Tell me why you requested this,” Brigadier General Graham Kessler said.
Across the table, Major Isabel Reyes went motionless. Mara could see her own reflection in the polished wood: Army uniform, tightly pinned black hair, both hands folded as though discipline could stop a memory from walking through the door.
The label on the folder read REDACTED VOSS, 2014.
Mara had spent twelve years trying to learn what happened to her brother in 2014. She had never expected the answer to arrive in the general's fist.
“I submitted a records request through the proper channel, sir.”
“You bypassed your supervisor.”
“My supervisor referred it to legal. I asked for the status.”
Kessler leaned closer. “You're an acquisitions officer. This file has nothing to do with your duties.”
“Then why is my family's name on it?”
Reyes drew a quiet breath. Kessler did not look at her.
The room was too warm. Fluorescent lights reflected in the dark windows of Fort Ridgeline's old headquarters building. Behind Mara, an American flag stood in the corner. The general had closed the blinds before calling them in.
“I know you think your brother was mistreated,” he said.
“My brother lost the use of two fingers pulling men out of a burning truck. Captain Nathan Bell got a Silver Star for those rescues. Aaron got a notation saying he abandoned his assigned position.”
“Watch your accusation.”
“Those are the two records, sir.”
Kessler planted his palm beside the folder. “Whatever happened overseas is finished.”
Mara looked at the white label again. The word REDACTED was printed in a newer font than the name beneath it. Someone had prepared the folder recently, then aged the contents with an old case number.
“Then why reopen it today?” she asked.
Kessler straightened. For the first time, uncertainty showed on his face.
Reyes's eyes dropped to the second seal peeking from beneath the folder. She whispered, barely loud enough for Mara to hear, “Because there's a page missing.”
Kessler heard her anyway.
May you like
“Major Reyes,” he said, “not another word.”
Mara looked from one officer to the other. The missing page was not what frightened Reyes. It was the fact that she knew exactly which page was gone.
