Chapter 7
That was when the first soldier stepped forward.
Private Mason.
His hands were shaking.
“Sir,” Mason said, “he made me finish the course after I blacked out.”
Briggs snapped, “Mason, shut up.”
Commander Cole turned sharply.
“Sergeant.”
One word.
Enough.
Another soldier stepped forward.
Then another.
“He threatened my transfer.”
“He told me nobody would believe me.”
“He made Riley carry double weight this morning.”
“He hit her after the whistle.”
“He said he was going to make an example out of her.”
The truth came out like a dam breaking.
Riley stood quietly as the voices rose around her.
She had come there to expose Briggs.
But hearing the soldiers speak still hit her harder than any kick.
Because she knew that silence.
She had lived inside it once.
Years earlier, before the missions, before the medals, before anyone called her an operator, Riley had been a young soldier in a different unit with a different man like Briggs.
A man who called cruelty discipline.
A man who said pain built character.
A man who made soldiers afraid to ask for help.
One of Riley’s closest friends had paid the price.
Specialist Hannah Reed.
Twenty-two years old.
Brave.
Funny.
Always sharing snacks from home.
Hannah had reported an injury and been mocked for it.
Then she was forced into a field exercise she should never have entered.
She never came back the same.
Riley had promised herself after that day that if she ever had the power to stop men like Briggs, she would use it.
Not quietly.
Not politely.
In the open.
May you like
Where everyone could see.
Read Part 8 to find out what happened when Briggs realized no one was protecting him anymore.
