Chapter 8 - THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE
First Sergeant Cole Ramsey was brought into Hale’s office at 10:30 that night.
He looked furious.
“What is this about?”
Hale closed the door.
“Keller.”
Ramsey’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But Hale saw it.
“What about him?”
“He’s missing.”
“That sounds like an MP problem.”
“It became your problem when we found your name in his vehicle.”
Ramsey stared at him.
“My name?”
Hale slid a photograph across the table.
Five handwritten names.
Ramsey read them.
His face drained.
“I’ve never seen this.”
“Why would Keller write your name?”
“I don’t know.”
Captain Ruiz stood near the wall.
“Maybe because you authorized Vaughn’s release.”
Ramsey looked at her.
“I released him because I was told there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him.”
“By whom?”
Ramsey hesitated.
Hale leaned forward.
“First Sergeant.”
Ramsey rubbed his jaw.
“Major Dalton.”
Ruiz frowned.
The battalion executive officer.
Hale’s second-in-command.
Hale said nothing for several seconds.
“When?”
“About thirty minutes after Vaughn was taken out of the mess hall.”
“What exactly did Dalton say?”
“That you were overreacting.”
Ruiz’s eyebrows rose.
Ramsey continued.
“He said the whole thing was becoming political. That if we detained Vaughn over what looked like a cafeteria prank, brigade would come down on us.”
Hale’s voice became dangerously calm.
“So you released a soldier I had ordered held?”
Ramsey looked defensive.
“Dalton outranks my position, sir.”
“He does not outrank my direct order.”
“No, sir.”
“Then why did you do it?”
Ramsey’s shoulders dropped.
“Because Major Dalton said the order came from you.”
Silence.
Hale stared at him.
“I gave no such order.”
Ramsey looked genuinely shaken.
“Then I was lied to.”
Ruiz stepped closer.
“And Mercer’s second complaint?”
Ramsey looked at her.
“What about it?”
“You signed for it.”
“Yes.”
“Where did it go?”
Ramsey’s eyes shifted.
There it was.
Lena saw it immediately.
He knew.
“First Sergeant,” she said quietly.
Ramsey looked at her.
“You told me you’d look into it.”
“I did.”
“What did you do?”
Ramsey rubbed both hands over his face.
“I gave it to Major Dalton.”
Hale sat back.
Ruiz whispered, “There it is.”
Ramsey shook his head.
“I thought I was following the chain.”
Hale’s eyes hardened.
“You had a complaint alleging the chain itself was compromised.”
“I know that now.”
“No. You knew it then.”
Ramsey said nothing.
Lena felt anger rising for the first time.
“You gave my complaint to the people I was complaining about.”
Ramsey looked at her.
“I made a mistake.”
“Twice?”
“I didn’t know Keller was involved.”
“You didn’t ask.”
Ramsey’s jaw tightened.
“I said I made a mistake.”
Lena stood.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
Her voice remained controlled.
“A mistake is forgetting to forward an email.”
She pointed toward the photograph.
“A mistake is missing a deadline.”
She looked directly at Ramsey.
“I told you somebody was feeding Vaughn information.”
Ramsey looked away.
“You decided protecting the system was easier than protecting the person using it.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Hale’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Hale.”
His expression changed.
“What?”
He stood.
“Lock down that area. Nobody touches anything.”
He ended the call.
Ruiz stepped forward.
“What happened?”
Hale looked at them.
“They found Keller.”
Lena’s stomach dropped.
“Where?”
“Behind the north maintenance building.”
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Hale grabbed his jacket.
“But someone beat him badly enough that he can barely speak.”
Ruiz stared at him.
“Keller was cleaning evidence.”
“Maybe.”
Hale opened the door.
May you like
“Or somebody was cleaning Keller.”
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