“TRAITOR!”
The word echoed across the entire training yard.
Before I could turn around, Gunnery Sergeant Cole grabbed me by the hair and dragged me backward across the gravel.
“GET OFF ME!”
Nobody moved.
Twenty Marines stood around us.
Watching.
Confused.
Terrified to interfere.
Cole dragged me another few feet before releasing me.
I tried to rise.
He didn’t give me the chance.
THUD!
His knee drove into my tactical vest.
I hit the ground.
“WHO DID YOU SEND THEM TO?!”
“I didn’t send anything!”
SLAP!
My head snapped sideways.
The yard went completely silent.
I tasted blood.
Cole crouched beside me.
“You leaked classified coordinates from this installation.”
I slowly looked up at him.
“No.”
“You accessed the server at 0213.”
“No.”
“You transmitted coordinates at 0217.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
Then I smiled.
“You practiced that speech, didn’t you?”
Cole’s expression changed.
“What did you say?”
I wiped my mouth.
“You already knew the exact timestamps before the investigation even started.”
Silence.
Something flickered behind his eyes.
Fear.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But I saw it.
Cole grabbed the front of my uniform and hauled me upright.
“CONFESS!”
He slammed me against the side of a Humvee.
BANG!
My shoulder struck the metal door.
Two soldiers rushed forward.
For one second, I thought they were helping me.
Instead, Cole pointed at my arms.
“RESTRAIN HER!”
“Gunny—”
“NOW!”
They grabbed me.
One on each side.
My damaged tactical shirt tore across the shoulder as they pulled my arms backward.
Cole stepped directly in front of me.
“You compromised this entire installation.”
“I didn’t leak those coordinates.”
“We have your credentials.”
“You have credentials with my name attached.”
“Same thing.”
“No.”
I stared directly into his eyes.
“Not even close.”
Cole leaned toward me.
“Who did you send them to?”
“Ask the man who framed me.”
His expression hardened.
“Last chance.”
I laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because Cole had just confirmed something I’d suspected since sunrise.
He hadn’t discovered the evidence.
He had created it.
“What the hell is funny?”
I looked around the yard.
Then back at him.
“You made one mistake.”
Cole stepped closer.
“What mistake?”
“You forgot what my actual assignment is.”
He stared at me.
I smiled.
“You thought stealing my login credentials would be enough.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed.
“It was.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Because passwords tell you who supposedly logged in.”
I paused.
“Server logs tell you what actually happened.”
Cole froze.
Nobody else seemed to understand.
But he did.
His face lost a little color.
“What server logs?”
I laughed again.
“Exactly.”
Cole turned toward the soldiers holding me.
“Get her inside.”
Neither moved.
“NOW!”
They started pulling me toward the administration building.
Then—
BEEP! BEEP!
Every radio in the yard activated simultaneously.
Everyone stopped.
Static crackled through the speakers.
Then a voice came through.
“Gunnery Sergeant Cole, remain where you are.”
Cole went completely still.
One of the Marines beside me slowly released my arm.
Cole grabbed his radio.
“Identify yourself.”
The response came immediately.
“CID.”
The entire yard changed.
Soldiers looked toward the main gate.
Cole didn’t.
He was staring at me.
“You called them.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“I didn’t have to.”
Cole’s radio crackled again.
“Gunnery Sergeant Cole, do not leave the training yard.”
Then we heard engines.
Three dark investigation vehicles rolled through the gate.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Every Marine in the yard turned to watch them.
Cole took one step backward.
I noticed.
So did everyone else.
The vehicles stopped.
Doors opened.
Four investigators stepped out.
The lead investigator walked directly toward us.
“Who is Gunnery Sergeant Marcus Cole?”
Nobody answered.
I looked at Cole.
The investigator followed my eyes.
Cole straightened his uniform.
“That’s me.”
“Step away from the corporal.”
Cole didn’t move.
“I have a suspected intelligence breach.”
“So do we.”
Cole hesitated.
Then released my uniform.
The investigator looked toward the two Marines beside me.
“Release her.”
They immediately did.
For the first time that morning, nobody was holding me.
I pushed myself upright.
Cole pointed toward me.
“She transmitted classified base coordinates using authenticated credentials.”
The investigator opened a folder.
“No.”
Cole blinked.
“What?”
“No, Gunnery Sergeant.”
He removed a printed report.
“Her credentials were used.”
“Exactly.”
“But not from her workstation.”
Cole stopped breathing for a second.
The investigator continued.
“The authentication request originated from Terminal C-14.”
A Marine behind Cole whispered:
“That’s command logistics.”
Cole looked around.
“Anyone could have accessed that terminal.”
The investigator nodded.
“Correct.”
Cole relaxed slightly.
Then the investigator continued.
“Which is why we checked the physical access logs.”
That relaxation disappeared.
“Terminal C-14 requires a secure access card.”
Cole said nothing.
The investigator turned another page.
“At 0209 hours, one card entered the communications annex.”
Silence.
“At 0211, that same card accessed Terminal C-14.”
Cole stared at him.
“At 0213, her credentials were entered.”
The investigator stepped closer.
“At 0217, the coordinates were transmitted.”
Nobody moved.
Cole swallowed.
“Whose card?”
The investigator stared directly at him.
“Yours.”
The yard erupted in whispers.
Cole immediately shook his head.
“My card was stolen.”
“Interesting.”
“It was missing.”
“When did you report it?”
Cole hesitated.
“I didn’t.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t realize it was missing.”
The investigator nodded.
Then reached into his folder.
“And that’s where we encountered another problem.”
Cole looked at him.
“What problem?”
“Security footage.”
Cole’s face changed.
I smiled.
There it was again.
That tiny flash of fear.
The investigator continued.
“Camera 14 shows someone entering the communications annex at 0209.”
Cole shook his head.
“The cameras in that corridor haven’t worked in weeks.”
The investigator stopped.
So did I.
Cole realized his mistake immediately.
The investigator slowly lowered the report.
“How did you know that?”
Nobody made a sound.
Cole’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
The investigator took one step toward him.
“I didn’t say which camera captured the footage.”
Cole looked around.
Every Marine in the yard was now staring at him.
Not me.
Him.
I stepped away from the Humvee.
“You wanted a confession?”
Cole looked at me.
I wiped the last trace of blood from my lip.
“Good.”
I nodded toward the investigators.
“Now tell THEM who really leaked those coordinates.”
Cole suddenly turned.
Not toward CID.
Toward the gate.
The investigator immediately shouted:
“GUNNERY SERGEANT COLE, DO NOT MOVE!”
Cole stopped.
Two investigators moved behind him.
“Hands where we can see them.”
“This is insane.”
“Hands.”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Then the evidence will clear you.”
Cole slowly raised his hands.
For the first time since he’d dragged me across that yard, he looked genuinely afraid.
One investigator took his access card.
Another secured his phone.
Then the lead investigator looked at me.
“Corporal, we’re going to need your statement.”
“You’ll have it.”
Cole laughed bitterly.
“You think this proves anything?”
I looked at him.
“You used my credentials.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“The logs can.”
“No.”
His voice became strangely calm.
“The logs prove somebody used my card.”
Something about the way he said it bothered me.
The lead investigator noticed too.
“What are you saying?”
Cole smiled.
And suddenly, I didn’t like where this was going.
“You people still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
Cole looked directly at me.
“I wasn’t trying to hide the leak.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then what were you trying to hide?”
His smile disappeared.
“The coordinates weren’t the secret.”
Nobody spoke.
Cole looked toward the communications building.
“They were the distraction.”
The investigator grabbed his arm.
“What distraction?”
Cole refused to answer.
Then—
BEEP.
One investigator looked down at Cole’s confiscated phone.
A notification had appeared.
He frowned.
“Sir.”
The lead investigator turned.
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
He showed him the screen.
The investigator’s face changed immediately.
“What is it?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he looked toward the northern side of the base.
Then he grabbed his radio.
“Lock down the installation.”
My stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
“LOCK IT DOWN NOW!”
Sirens erupted across the compound.
WAAAAA—WAAAAA—WAAAAA!
Marines started running.
The main gate began closing.
Cole stood perfectly still.
And smiled.
I stepped toward him.
“What did you do?”
He looked at me.
“Nothing.”
“WHAT DID YOU DO?!”
He leaned closer.
“You spent all morning trying to prove I framed you.”
Then he whispered:
“You should have been asking why I needed everyone looking at you.”
My blood ran cold.
The investigator grabbed Cole and pulled him toward the vehicle.
But I wasn’t watching him anymore.
I was staring across the base.
Because suddenly—
the communications building went dark.
Then another building.
Then another.
One after another, entire sections of the installation lost power.
CLICK.
CLICK.
CLICK.
The investigator’s radio exploded with static.
“Command, respond.”
Nothing.
“COMMAND, RESPOND!”
Only static.
I looked toward Cole.
He was being pushed into the CID vehicle.
But before the door closed, our eyes met.
And he smiled again.
That’s when I understood the most terrifying part.
Cole hadn’t panicked when CID arrived because he’d been caught.
He’d panicked because they had arrived several minutes too early.
