Chapter 7 - THE LOCKER
Lena did not return to her barracks alone.
Two MPs walked with her.
Colonel Hale had ordered it despite her objections.
“I can walk across a base by myself, sir.”
“I know.”
“Then why the escort?”
“Because courage isn’t the same thing as being careless.”
She stopped arguing.
At 7:42 p.m., Lena entered the women’s barracks.
The hallway was quiet.
Her roommate, Specialist Kayla Benton, was away on overnight duty.
Lena reached her room.
The door was locked.
Nothing looked disturbed.
One MP checked the hall while the other waited near the door.
Lena entered.
Her bed was untouched.
Desk clean.
Closet closed.
Then she saw her locker.
The door hung open.
Her pulse jumped.
“I locked that.”
The MP immediately raised a hand.
“Don’t touch anything.”
They approached slowly.
Lena’s green notebook was gone.
She stared at the empty shelf.
“No.”
“What was there?”
“My notes.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
The MP looked around.
“Anything else missing?”
Lena checked.
Laptop still there.
Wallet.
Headphones.
Civilian clothes.
Cash.
Nothing else had been taken.
Only the notebook.
The MP’s expression hardened.
“This wasn’t theft.”
“No.”
Lena looked at the broken lock.
“It was a message.”
Colonel Hale arrived twelve minutes later.
His anger was quiet.
That made it worse.
“Who knew about the notebook?”
“You.”
“Ruiz?”
“She saw it.”
“Keller?”
“He knew I wrote things down.”
“Vaughn?”
“Yes.”
“Ramsey?”
Lena paused.
“I mentioned it during my second complaint.”
Hale exhaled slowly.
He turned to the MPs.
“Pull access logs.”
One sergeant nodded.
The barracks used electronic entry cards.
Every entrance was recorded.
At 9:05 p.m., they had an answer.
Someone entered the building at 6:31.
Someone whose card should not have worked in the women’s barracks.
Staff Sergeant Randall Keller.
Hale stared at the report.
Ruiz looked over his shoulder.
“That’s enough for detention.”
Hale nodded.
“Find him.”
The response came three minutes later.
Keller wasn’t in his room.
He wasn’t in the motor pool.
He wasn’t answering his phone.
His car was still on base.
Then an MP radioed in.
“Sir, we found Staff Sergeant Keller’s vehicle.”
Hale grabbed the radio.
“Location?”
“North equipment yard.”
“Is he there?”
“No, sir.”
Hale’s eyes narrowed.
The MP continued.
“But there’s something in the passenger seat.”
“What?”
A pause.
“Private Mercer’s notebook.”
Lena felt relief for half a second.
Then the MP added:
“And a handwritten list of five names.”
Hale looked at Lena.
“Which names?”
Static crackled over the radio.
Then the answer came.
“Mercer. Price. Ruiz. Hale…”
The MP paused.
“And First Sergeant Ramsey.”
Lena frowned.
Ramsey?
Why would Keller have Ramsey’s name on a threat list if Ramsey was helping him?
Hale seemed to have the same thought.
Then the radio crackled again.
“Sir, there’s writing beneath the names.”
“What does it say?”
The MP read it aloud.
May you like
“**HE KNOWS WHO STARTED THIS.**”
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