The Airman looked at Rourke.
Then at the phone in Elena’s hand.
“He told me my assignment would disappear if I talked.”
Nobody on the shuttle moved.
The investigator’s voice came through the speaker.
“Airman, don’t look at Captain Rourke. Look at Elena. Tell her exactly what he said.”
Rourke stepped forward.
“This conversation is over.”
Elena raised the phone.
“No. It’s finally starting.”
Rourke’s face tightened.
“You have no idea what you recorded.”
“That’s why you tried so hard to delete it.”
The shuttle driver glanced into the mirror.
“Do you want me to stop?”
The investigator answered.
“Yes. Pull into the security checkpoint ahead. Keep the doors closed until installation security arrives.”
Rourke grabbed a seatback.
“You’re taking instructions from someone on a phone?”
Elena looked at him.
“You heard him identify himself.”
“I heard a voice.”
The investigator responded calmly.
“And I heard you put your hands on Elena twice.”
Rourke said nothing.
The young Airman’s grip tightened around her backpack.
Elena crouched beside the seat across from her.
“What’s your name?”
“Airman First Class Tessa Ward.”
“All right, Tessa. What did Captain Rourke threaten you about?”
Tessa glanced at him again.
Elena shook her head.
“Stay with me.”
Tessa swallowed.
“My transfer.”
“What transfer?”
“To the 418th.”
Rourke laughed once.
“She wasn’t selected.”
Tessa flinched.
The investigator spoke immediately.
“Captain Rourke, do not answer for her.”
Elena kept her eyes on Tessa.
“Were you selected?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
“I got the notification.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“And what happened?”
Tessa slowly unzipped her backpack.
Rourke moved.
Elena stood between them.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not touching her.”
“You don’t need to.”
Tessa pulled out a folded sheet.
“My assignment orders.”
Elena took them.
The top showed Tessa’s name.
The destination matched what she had said.
But a thick diagonal line had been drawn across the page.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
HOLD — COMMAND REVIEW.
Elena looked at Rourke.
“Your handwriting?”
“No.”
Tessa whispered, “He wrote it in front of me.”
Rourke stared at her.
“You need to think very carefully.”
The investigator cut in.
“Captain, that sounded like another warning.”
“I’m telling her not to make false statements.”
Tessa’s eyes filled.
Elena sat beside her.
“What were you supposed to stay quiet about?”
Tessa didn’t answer.
The shuttle rolled toward the checkpoint.
Rourke watched the windows.
Not Tessa.
Not Elena.
The windows.
As if he were calculating how much time remained.
Elena noticed.
“So that’s what scares you.”
Rourke turned.
“What?”
“We’re almost at security.”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“You tried to destroy my phone.”
“Because you were recording personnel without authorization.”
“You could have reported me.”
“You refused a direct order.”
“You could have reported that too.”
Elena held up the phone.
“Instead, you grabbed me.”
Rourke looked toward the front.
The shuttle slowed.
Tessa whispered, “There were three of us.”
Elena turned back.
“Three what?”
“Three Airmen.”
Rourke closed his eyes.
Just for a moment.
But Elena saw it.
“Three Airmen who knew something?”
Tessa nodded.
“We were all selected for reassignment.”
“Where?”
“Different units.”
“What did you have in common?”
Tessa looked down.
“We worked the same overnight detail.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“What happened?”
Tessa’s voice dropped.
“We saw Captain Rourke in the records room.”
Rourke snapped, “Stop.”
The investigator said, “Continue, Airman.”
Tessa did.
“He wasn’t supposed to be there.”
“How did you know?”
“Because our detail controlled the corridor. Anyone entering after midnight had to be logged.”
“Was he logged?”
“No.”
“Did you see him enter?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
Tessa hesitated.
“No.”
Rourke’s face lost color.
Elena noticed.
“Who was with him?”
“I couldn’t see the person clearly.”
“Uniform?”
“Civilian clothes.”
“Man or woman?”
“I don’t know. They had a hooded jacket.”
“What did they do?”
“They carried two archive boxes out.”
Rourke shook his head.
“That never happened.”
Tessa looked at Elena.
“I took a picture.”
That changed everything.
“Where is it?”
Tessa touched her backpack.
Rourke moved again.
This time two passengers stood.
They didn’t touch him.
They simply filled the aisle.
Rourke stopped.
Tessa removed a small tablet.
She opened a photo.
The image was dark and grainy.
But Rourke was recognizable.
He stood beside a second person near a service door.
Two document boxes sat on a cart between them.
The timestamp showed 00:43.
Elena brought her phone closer and recorded the tablet screen.
Rourke stared at her.
“You’re making this worse for yourself.”
Elena almost smiled.
“You still think this is about me?”
The shuttle stopped.
Security personnel approached outside.
The doors remained closed.
The investigator asked Tessa another question.
“What happened after you took the photograph?”
“Nothing that night.”
“And later?”
“Captain Rourke called me into his office.”
“When?”
“Two days later.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether I’d been using my phone during duty.”
“Did you tell him about the photograph?”
“No.”
“Then how did he know?”
“I don’t know.”
Rourke looked toward the door.
Elena saw his hand move toward his pocket.
“Hands where we can see them.”
He glared at her.
“You’re not security.”
“No. But they are.”
The doors opened.
Two security officers entered.
The investigator identified himself through Elena’s phone and requested that the shuttle passengers be separated for statements.
Rourke was escorted off first.
He didn’t resist.
As he passed Elena, he whispered, “You should have deleted it.”
Elena looked directly at him.
“Which video?”
He stopped.
That was the first time he seemed to realize there might be more than one.
The security officer guided him forward.
Elena watched him go.
Then Tessa asked, “What did you record?”
Elena looked at the phone.
The video that had triggered Rourke’s attack wasn’t the one Tessa thought.
Elena had begun recording several minutes before Rourke noticed.
She’d been sitting near the middle of the shuttle when she heard him speaking behind her.
At first, she wasn’t recording him.
She was fi
