“Yesterday afternoon.”
“Context?”
“Training.”
“Any disagreement?”
“Not yesterday.”
Warren watched her.
“We’re aware of the earlier incident.”
Clara said nothing.
“Did you threaten Staff Sergeant Kaelen?”
“No.”
“Did you contact anyone outside this installation regarding him?”
Clara’s pulse stayed even.
“Why?”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Neither is your question.”
Pike leaned forward.
“Specialist, this isn’t optional.”
Clara looked at him.
“Yes, I contacted a former supervisor.”
“Name?”
“I’m not authorized to disclose it.”
Warren frowned.
“You’re a logistics specialist.”
Clara smiled faintly.
“That’s what my records say.”
The two agents looked at each other.
Reeves, standing near the window, almost laughed.
Almost.
Warren placed a photograph on the table.
Kaelen’s office.
The locked drawer open.
Empty.
“Someone entered his office overnight.”
Clara looked at it.
“Okay.”
“Know anything about that?”
“No.”
Technically true.
She knew about Toby.
She did not know who had opened the drawer after he returned the flash drive.
Warren placed another image down.
A security-camera still.
Toby entering the building at 0217.
Clara felt her stomach tighten.
Pike watched her face.
“You know him.”
“He’s in my platoon.”
“He says he went to get cleaning equipment.”
That was terrible.
Toby was a terrible liar.
Warren leaned closer.
“He also entered your barracks hallway three minutes later.”
Clara said nothing.
“Why?”
“You should ask him.”
“We did.”
“And?”
“He said he needed help with his uniform.”
Clara nearly closed her eyes.
Even worse.
Pike said, “What did he bring you?”
“Nothing.”
Again technically true when he left.
Warren stared at her.
Then the office door opened.
First Sergeant Bowman stepped inside.
His face was pale.
“Captain.”
Reeves turned.
“What?”
“They found Kaelen.”
Everyone stood.
Bowman looked toward Clara.
For reasons she couldn’t explain, the way he looked at her made her skin go cold.
“Where?”
Bowman swallowed.
“In the old vehicle maintenance lot.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief.
Brief.
Then Bowman continued.
“But he’s not alone.”
Kaelen sat on the concrete floor of an abandoned maintenance bay.
His hands were zip-tied in front of him.
There was dried blood along one side of his forehead.
Not severe.
A shallow cut.
Enough to show he had resisted somebody.
Military police surrounded the building.
Clara remained outside behind the barrier.
CID agents moved in and out.
Toby stood beside her.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who grabbed him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You say that a lot for someone who clearly knows more than everyone.”
Clara looked at him.
“Toby.”
“Yeah?”
“Be quiet.”
He nodded.
Ten minutes later, Agent Warren emerged.
He walked directly toward Clara.
“You need to see something.”
Inside the maintenance bay, the air smelled of rust and old fuel.
Kaelen looked up when Clara entered.
The fear in his face was immediate.
“Get her away from me.”
Everyone stopped.
Clara stared.
Kaelen pushed himself backward.
“She’s part of this.”
Warren looked at Clara.
“Part of what?”
Kaelen’s breathing quickened.
“She knows.”
Clara stepped closer.
“Knows what?”
“You.”
His eyes were wild.
“You’re not supposed to be here.”
Clara’s pulse changed.
“Who told you that?”
Kaelen laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“You think I’m stupid?”
“Yes.”
Warren gave her a look.
Clara ignored him.
Kaelen stared at her.
“They said you were dead.”
Everything stopped.
Clara felt the room become smaller.
“Who?”
Kaelen looked toward the CID agents.
Then back at Clara.
“I want protection.”
Warren said, “From who?”
Kaelen laughed again.
“You don’t understand.”
Clara crouched in front of him.
“Then explain.”
His eyes fixed on hers.
For the first time since meeting him, the arrogance was gone.
There was only terror.
“My brother was never in an accident.”
Clara said nothing.
Kaelen’s face crumpled.
“They took him.”
“Who?”
“Halden’s people.”
Warren frowned.
“General Halden?”
Kaelen’s eyes snapped toward him.
“You said his name.”
“So?”
“You don’t say his name.”
Warren looked confused.
Clara wasn’t.
Kaelen continued.
“Aaron was logistics security. He found manifests that didn’t match.”
Clara’s throat tightened.
“What manifests?”
“Weapons.”
The room went still.
Kaelen whispered, “American weapons.”
“Going where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who received them?”
“I don’t know!”
His voice cracked.
Clara waited.
Kaelen lowered his head.
“Aaron threatened to report it.”
“And?”
“They told me he died.”
“But he didn’t.”
Kaelen looked at her.
“No.”
Clara felt the cold Syrian valley opening again beneath her feet.
“What happened to him?”
“I spent years trying to find out.”
“And the soldiers you targeted?”
Kaelen stared.
Shame entered his face.
“They weren’t random.”
Toby shifted behind Clara.
“What?”
Kaelen looked at him.
“I was checking them.”
“Checking for what?”
“Recruitment.”
Toby went pale.
Clara’s voice became sharper.
“Explain.”
Kaelen swallowed.
“Halden’s network uses young soldiers. People with money problems. Family problems. Discipline issues. People nobody notices.”
Clara stared.
“You were identifying them?”
“No.”
His voice broke.
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