Chapter 5 - The File Beneath the Maps
Mara shifted away from the window after her second shot.
A third sniper fired at the position she had just abandoned, breaking apart the concrete support.
He had identified her.
That meant the attackers had expected someone capable of answering their fire.
She crawled toward the map table and pulled a secure drive from beneath a stack of briefings.
Aiden had given it to her the previous night.
He said he found unauthorized access records connected to Benton’s operations network.
At first, Mara believed the intrusion came from outside the base.
The timestamps changed her mind.
Someone had opened archived engineering maps, sniper-response plans, and emergency communication procedures using an internal command credential.
The access belonged to Major Benton.
Mara had not confronted him because credentials could be stolen.
Then she found deleted messages between Benton and a civilian contractor responsible for rebuilding the eastern perimeter.
The contractor had routed money into an account tied to an international weapons broker.
Benton claimed the payments were consulting fees.
Aiden believed otherwise.
“We need proof he knowingly gave them the route,” he told Mara.
The attack provided it.
The snipers targeted the exact desks containing communications equipment.
They knew where response vehicles were parked.
They knew the command bunker entrance.
And the trucks were moving through a service road Benton had personally ordered removed from updated maps.
Mara looked toward him across the ruined room.
He was not watching the eastern windows.
May you like
He was watching the secure drive in her hand.
Then he moved toward her.
