Chapter 5 - THE THREAT
Barrett moved first.
He charged down the stairs.
I followed.
The lower landing was empty.
The fire door swung slowly on its hinge.
Whoever had been there was already gone.
Barrett pushed into the basement corridor while I checked the opposite direction.
Nothing.
No footsteps.
No elevator.
Only the hum of ventilation fans and the smell of disinfectant.
Dr. Lawson remained above us, gripping the rail.
“They’re going to arrest me.”
“No,” I said.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
She stared at me.
“They planted narcotics because of me. That means they want you frightened, not convicted.”
“That is not comforting.”
Barrett returned, breathing hard.
“He had a ninety-second lead.”
“Security cameras?” I asked.
“Still cycling.”
Of course they were.
Someone knew the building.
Someone controlled its systems.
Someone had access to old military DNA files and my current hospital records.
The life I had built was no longer hidden.
It had become a target.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A distorted male voice spoke immediately.
“Captain Donovan.”
Barrett heard the name and stiffened.
I said nothing.
The voice continued.
“You were told to stay dead.”
“Who is this?”
“You already know.”
“I don’t.”
A low laugh.
“You always were a terrible liar.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What do you want?”
“The folder.”
“No.”
“Then Dr. Lawson goes to prison.”
I looked at her.
She read the answer in my face.
The voice continued.
“Sergeant Barrett loses his clearance. Colonel Mercer loses his command. And Ranger is declared unstable and destroyed.”
My jaw clenched.
“You touch that dog, I will find you.”
“There she is.”
The voice became almost warm.
“The real Rachel.”
Barrett stepped closer, trying to hear.
I put the call on speaker.
“What happened in Shah Dara?” I asked.
Silence.
Then the man said, “You happened.”
The call ended.
Barrett stared at the phone.
Dr. Lawson whispered, “Rachel?”
I turned away.
There was no reason to lie anymore.
Not to them.
“My name was Rachel Donovan.”
Was.
The word felt like a blade.
Dr. Lawson lowered herself onto the stair.
Barrett’s face hardened with disbelief.
“You were the Ghost Unit medic.”
“Team leader.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Reports said Major Cole led the unit.”
“He took credit after I disappeared.”
“Major Everett Cole?”
“Yes.”
Barrett looked sick.
“He’s deputy director of military intelligence now.”
“I know.”
Dr. Lawson pressed a hand to her mouth.
“Why would he fake your death?”
“Because I saw something during the mission.”
“What?”
I closed my eyes.
For eleven years, the memory had lived behind a wall.
Gunfire.
Smoke.
A crying child.
A sealed transport container beneath a village clinic.
American serial numbers.
American weapons.
And Major Cole ordering us to burn the evidence.
“I saw our own people supplying weapons to both sides.”
Barrett’s face drained of color.
“That would destroy careers.”
“It would destroy governments.”
My phone vibrated.
A video file arrived.
I opened it.
The screen showed Ranger inside the K9 facility.
A man in black stood behind the kennel.
He held a syringe.
Barrett grabbed the phone.
“No.”
The video timestamp showed live footage.
Then the camera turned.
Major Everett Cole’s face filled the screen.
He smiled.
May you like
“Bring me the folder, Rachel.”
Behind him, Ranger began to growl.
