Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Hidden Inside the Military Command
The firefight on the logging road lasted less than four minutes.
But for Daniel Brooks, those minutes changed the meaning of his entire military career.
The unidentified armed men withdrew when additional National Guard vehicles approached from the south.
Two suspects were detained.
A third vehicle escaped into the woods.
Reed suffered a minor injury from flying glass.
Brooks emerged unharmed.
When investigators examined the detained men's identification, they discovered that their credentials were fraudulent.
But one suspect carried a secure communications device.
Its recent call history contained a number registered to a private contractor working for General Richard Voss.
Brooks stared at the evidence.
He had served under Voss for six years.
He had trusted the general with his career.
His brother's memory.
His family's grief.
Now he wondered whether Voss had spent eight years protecting the people responsible for Michael's death.
“Secure the suspects,” Brooks ordered. “Preserve their equipment. Notify the state police and federal investigators.”
Reed approached.
“Sir, headquarters is demanding that we withdraw.”
“Whose order?”
“General Voss.”
Brooks looked toward the mountain.
“Tell headquarters we're conducting a civilian rescue operation under emergency authority.”
“They're threatening to relieve you.”
“Then they can send someone to take my place after we bring those residents out.”
Reed nodded.
For the first time that night, he looked proud of his commander.
Inside the nursing home, Clare finally received Brooks's voice over the radio.
“Weston, this is Brooks. We're still here.”
She leaned against the wall.
Relief nearly overwhelmed her.
“You went silent.”
“We encountered armed interference.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
She closed her eyes.
“Good.”
Brooks heard the emotion beneath the word.
“Clare, I need you to listen. The people responsible for Silent Harbor may be trying to stop us.”
She looked toward the trauma backpack containing the recorder.
“I know.”
“Do you have evidence?”
“Possibly.”
“Keep it secure. Don't transmit its contents over an unsecured channel.”
Clare hesitated.
“Daniel, your brother knew.”
Brooks gripped the radio.
“Knew what?”
“That the convoy had been betrayed.”
Silence.
“He discovered the original extraction coordinates had been sent outside the command network,” Clare continued. “He was trying to identify the person responsible when the attack began.”
Brooks closed his eyes.
Michael had always been stubborn.
Always asking questions.
Always refusing to accept convenient explanations.
“Why didn't you tell me?” he asked.
“I tried to tell the investigators. They buried my testimony.”
“And afterward?”
“I was warned that the civilians we rescued could be endangered if I continued.”
Brooks looked toward the nursing home.
For eight years, he had imagined Clare Weston as a coward.
Now he saw a woman who had lost everything because she refused to abandon wounded people.
He swallowed.
“My brother would have trusted you.”
Clare's eyes filled.
“He did.”
Before either could speak again, a violent rumble shook the valley.
The mountain moved.
A massive section of hillside collapsed behind the nursing home.
Mud, trees, and boulders thundered toward the building.
Clare shouted into the radio.
“LANDSLIDE!”
The transmission dissolved into static.
Brooks turned toward the mountain.
A wall of debris struck the nursing home's eastern side.
Brick walls collapsed.
Windows shattered.
The building disappeared behind a cloud of mud and rain.
Reed stared in horror.
“Sir…”
Brooks did not answer.
He was already running toward the engineering vehicle.
Inside the tunnel, Clare was thrown against the wall.
Her flashlight rolled across the floor.
A heavy concrete beam collapsed behind her, separating her from the dining hall.
Dust filled the air.
Someone screamed.
Clare struggled to her knees.
“Sound off!”
Voices answered from the tunnel.
One.
Two.
Five.
Twelve.
Twenty.
She counted again.
Twenty-nine residents had reached the northern half of the passage.
Fourteen remained behind the obstruction.
Including both ventilator patients.
And Walter Henderson's wife.
Clare pressed her hands against the fallen beam.
It did not move.
She looked through the narrow opening beneath it.
On the other side, Walter sat beside Margaret's wheelchair.
“Clare!” he shouted.
“I'm here!”
“The ceiling's coming down!”
She looked toward the damaged concrete.
The tunnel was still shifting.
Then Walter said something that made her blood run cold.
“Margaret's oxygen is running out.”
Clare stared at the opening.
Fourteen people trapped.
A collapsing building behind them.
A blocked tunnel ahead.
And no way to reach them.
For the first time since crossing the bridge, she felt genuine terror.
May you like
Not because she might die.
Because she might fail the people who had trusted her.
