Chapter 4
Harris’ voice cracked.
“Ava… how?”
She looked at him then.
For the first time, something human moved behind her eyes.
“I didn’t die in that desert, sir.”
Her gaze hardened again.
“I got left in it.”
Nobody spoke.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Torres forced a laugh, but it came out wrong.
“This is insane. She walks in from nowhere with a file and you’re all buying it?”
Ava turned a page.
A photo slid into view.
Torres froze.
It showed a radio terminal.
A hand.
A date stamp from three years ago.
Ava’s voice was low.
“Someone changed our extraction frequency twelve minutes before the ambush.”
She laid another photo on top of the first.
A transfer record.
A coded message.
A base access log.
“Someone sold our route.”
Harris looked at the papers.
Then he slowly turned toward Torres.
Torres lifted both hands.
“Commander, come on. You know me.”
Ava’s voice cut him open.
“I do.”
Torres looked at her.
She stepped closer.
“You were the comms liaison that night.”
His face tightened.
“I was cleared.”
May you like
“No,” Ava said. “You were protected.”
Read Part 5 to hear the recording Torres never thought anyone would find.
