Chapter 9 - THE MAN BENEATH THE FACE
The synthetic mask came free with a soft pull.
Beneath it was a lean man in his late thirties, with closely cropped blond hair and a narrow scar beneath his right ear.
Leon’s description of Vale.
Not Adrian.
Another operative using the name.
Marcus recoiled.
Jake pressed himself against the wall.
The man folded the mask carefully and placed it inside his uniform pocket.
Mercer aimed his weapon.
“Hands where I can see them.”
The false Ethan smiled.
“You’ve already seen what I wanted you to see.”
Sarah studied him.
His posture had never truly matched a recruit. He stood too balanced, feet placed to move in any direction. Even in the mess hall, his laughter had been measured. He had watched the exits between insults.
“Where is Ethan Carter?” she asked.
“Buried outside Barstow.”
Jake made a strangled sound.
Marcus whispered, “You lived with us for twelve weeks.”
“I listened to you snore for twelve weeks.”
“What is your name?” Sarah asked.
“Today? Vale.”
Mercer’s finger tightened near the trigger.
“Release the hostage.”
Vale tilted his head.
“Which one?”
“Teresa Thompson.”
Jake stepped forward.
“You showed me my mother.”
“I showed you a live feed.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe for the moment.”
Sarah held up the storage drive.
“This is what you want.”
Vale’s smile faded.
“You opened it.”
“One folder.”
“Then you saw enough to understand.”
“I saw a four-star officer.”
Mercer looked between them.
Vale’s eyes never left Sarah.
“Give me the drive, and the Thompson woman walks free.”
“No.”
Jake turned on her.
“What do you mean, no?”
Sarah faced him.
“I mean he will not release her because he needs her to control you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know he spent twelve weeks building trust with you so he could use your access code. I know he planted evidence on Marcus and arranged for the mess hall confrontation to push suspicion toward all three of you.”
Jake’s face twisted.
“He didn’t arrange that.”
Vale said nothing.
Sarah continued.
“Who suggested pouring the water?”
Jake looked at the floor.
“Ethan.”
“Who told you I had accused you of stealing?”
“Ethan.”
“Who said humiliating me publicly would force me to withdraw the report?”
Jake’s jaw tightened.
Vale’s silence answered for him.
Sarah looked back at the operative.
“The hostage is another lever. Nothing more.”
A buzzing sound came from Vale’s pocket.
He checked a small device.
“The ventilation system will activate in six minutes.”
Mercer’s eyes narrowed.
“We disconnected the controller.”
“You disconnected one controller.”
Vale pressed a button.
A live video appeared on a wall monitor. Teresa Thompson sat tied to a chair in what looked like a utility room. Behind her, six silver cylinders were connected to a ventilation manifold.
Jake surged forward.
Vale drew a compact blade and held it against Jake’s throat before Mercer could fire.
Sarah raised one hand.
“Stop.”
Vale pulled Jake against his chest.
“Drive.”
Sarah held it out between two fingers.
“Release him first.”
“You are not negotiating from strength.”
“Neither are you.”
Vale’s gaze sharpened.
Sarah nodded toward the monitor.
“The camera angle is too low. Teresa’s chair casts no shadow beneath the emergency light. You are showing us another recording.”
Jake stared at the screen.
The image flickered.
Teresa repeated the same breath.
A loop.
Vale tightened his grip.
“Her location is real.”
“But you are not there to verify whether your partners kept her alive.”
For the first time, irritation crossed his face.
Sarah stepped closer.
“Rebecca and Adrian are using you.”
Vale laughed, but there was no amusement in it.
“You think everything is personal.”
“They gave you a dead recruit’s identity. They sent you inside a base carrying evidence that could identify you. Now they are forcing you to retrieve a drive only I can open.”
His eyes shifted toward the storage device.
That movement confirmed it.
He could not access the files himself.
Sarah lowered her voice.
“They do not intend for you to leave Calder Point.”
The buzzing device in Vale’s pocket accelerated.
He glanced down.
A red light flashed.
Not a ventilation timer.
A proximity trigger.
Sarah moved.
She threw the storage drive toward the far wall.
Vale instinctively turned his head.
Mercer struck his knife wrist. Jake dropped. Marcus pulled Jake away while Sarah drove Vale into the communications cabinet.
The small device fell from his pocket.
Its screen displayed a map of the base with one moving signal.
The signal was approaching the command level.
Vale saw it and went still.
“They found me.”
“Who?” Mercer demanded.
Vale looked at Sarah.
“Your sister.”
A suppressed shot cracked from the dark corridor.
Vale’s body jerked.
He fell against Sarah, eyes wide.
No blood sprayed, but a dark stain spread beneath his shoulder.
Sarah pulled him behind the cabinet.
Footsteps retreated in the distance.
Mercer started after them.
Vale caught Sarah’s sleeve.
“Rebecca isn’t working for Adrian.”
“Who is she working for?”
His breath rattled.
“The officer in the video.”
“Name him.”
Vale’s lips moved.
Before the name emerged, every light in the service level died.
May you like
A woman whispered from the darkness behind Sarah.
“Don’t make me shoot you too.”
