Chapter 6
Every older soldier in the room froze.
Cole blinked.
Dalton lowered his eyes.
Because he knew.
Everyone who had been on that base long enough knew the name.
Master Sergeant Aaron Blackwell.
The best armorer Fort Halden had ever had.
A man who could diagnose a rifle by sound.
A man who trained half the unit on weapons safety.
A man who died two years earlier during a live-fire failure that should never have happened.
Officially, it was an accident.
Unofficially, people whispered.
Then stopped whispering when Cole took over the armory.
Kira looked at Rack Seven.
“My father reported unsafe weapons before he died.”
Cole’s face went pale.
“That has nothing to do with this.”
Dalton picked up the sealed inventory packet.
“Yes,” he said, “it does.”
He opened it and removed an old maintenance complaint.
Yellowed at the edges.
Signed.
Aaron Blackwell.
Dalton placed it on the table.
“This report was filed forty-eight hours before Master Sergeant Blackwell was killed.”
Kira stared at the page.
She had seen copies.
Never the original.
Her father’s handwriting sat there under the armory lights.
Strong.
Sharp.
Alive in ink.
Dalton read from it.
“Rack Seven contains improperly repaired rifles. Recommend immediate removal from service pending full inspection.”
The room went silent.
Cole’s face went blank.
Kira’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“He named Rack Seven.”
Dalton nodded.
“He did.”
Kira looked at Cole.
“You buried it.”
Cole swallowed.
“I never saw that report.”
Dalton slid another paper forward.
May you like
“Your signature says otherwise.”
Read Part 7 to find out what Cole admitted when every escape route finally closed.
