Chapter 3 - SOMEBODY WANTED HER GONEThe next morning Avery behaved as if nothing had happened.
That was deliberate.
Whoever had entered her room expected one of two reactions: panic or accusation.
She gave them neither.
At 0500, she joined the formation.
At 0530, she ran eight miles with the group.
At 0700, she ate eggs that tasted like cardboard and drank coffee that could probably remove paint.
Briggs sat three tables away.
He never looked directly at her.
That was new.
Usually he made sure Avery knew when he was watching.
Now he laughed with his instructors while carefully keeping his face turned away.
Avery found that more suspicious than open hostility.
After breakfast, candidates moved to the obstacle course.
The exercise involved teams crossing a suspended platform using harnesses, ropes, and a series of elevated beams.
Exactly the type of equipment shown in Vale's photographs.
Avery immediately began watching hardware instead of people.
Captain Pierce explained the course.
Briggs handled safety inspection.
That got Avery's attention.
He moved down the line, checking carabiners, straps, and belay systems.
Professional.
Efficient.
Nothing obviously wrong.
A young Army specialist named Evan Cole stepped up beside Avery.
He was twenty-three, skinny, energetic, and incapable of whispering.
“Ma'am.”
“Cole.”
“I wanted to say something.”
“Then say it.”
He lowered his voice anyway.
“Briggs hates you.”
Avery glanced at him.
“That information required a private briefing?”
Cole almost smiled.
“No, ma'am.”
“What actually matters?”
His expression became serious.
“I saw somebody near the equipment shed last night.”
Avery's attention sharpened.
“Who?”
“Couldn't tell. Around midnight. I was coming back from medical.”
“Why were you at medical?”
“Blister.”
He lifted one boot slightly.
“Heroic injury.”
Avery ignored that.
“What did you see?”
“Someone unlocked the shed.”
“Authorized personnel?”
“I assumed instructor.”
“Did you see the face?”
“No.”
“Height?”
“Average.”
“Male or female?”
“Couldn't tell.”
“You tell anyone?”
“No.”
“Keep it that way.”
Cole frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I just asked you to.”
That ended the conversation.
Twenty minutes later, teams started the course.
Avery watched every harness.
Candidate after candidate crossed safely.
Nothing happened.
She began to wonder whether she was looking too hard.
Then Cole clipped into the line.
His team climbed the first tower.
Avery saw the connection point.
Something looked wrong.
Not obviously broken.
Wrong.
Cole leaned his weight backward.
The harness shifted.
Avery saw a narrow cut beneath the waist strap.
Not accidental wear.
A straight blade line.
“STOP!”
Everyone froze.
Cole looked down.
“What?”
“Don't move.”
Briggs turned angrily.
“Mitchell, what the hell are you doing?”
Avery was already climbing the platform ladder.
“Candidate safety.”
“I inspected that harness.”
“Then inspect it again.”
Briggs's face changed.
Avery reached Cole.
She didn't touch the compromised strap until a secondary line was secured.
Then she turned the material over.
The cut became visible.
Captain Pierce swore softly.
The entire training lane stopped.
Briggs grabbed the strap.
“That wasn't there.”
Avery watched him.
“You checked it?”
“Yes.”
“Personally?”
“Yes.”
“Then somebody cut it after inspection.”
Briggs looked around.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“No,” Avery replied. “It doesn't.”
Colonel Vale arrived twelve minutes later.
The course shut down.
Military police secured the equipment shed.
Every harness was collected.
Avery stood near the tower when Briggs approached.
“You trying to set me up?”
She looked at him.
“What?”
“You humiliate me yesterday. Today a harness I inspected magically gets cut.”
“Interesting theory.”
“You think I don't see what you're doing?”
“What am I doing?”
“Building a case.”
Avery stepped closer.
“Against you?”
His jaw flexed.
“You tell me.”
“I didn't mention your name.”
“You didn't need to.”
For the first time, Avery noticed something beneath Briggs's anger.
Fear.
Not the fear of being embarrassed.
Fear of being blamed.
That distinction mattered.
“Did you enter my room last night?” she asked.
Briggs blinked.
“What?”
“Simple question.”
“No.”
“Anyone ask you to?”
“No.”
“Do your gloves smell like machine oil?”
He stared at her.
Then held both hands out.
“Half the base smells like machine oil.”
Fair point.
Briggs lowered his voice.
“You think I'm stupid enough to leave a warning under your pillow?”
Avery said nothing.
His eyes widened slightly.
“So somebody did.”
That was a mistake.
Avery hadn't told him about the warning.
Briggs realized it immediately.
“You just said warning.”
“Yes.”
“You didn't say there was a note.”
“No.”
Silence stretched between them.
Briggs cursed.
“I heard Pierce talking.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“With whom?”
“Didn't see.”
“Where?”
“Behind the operations building.”
Avery studied him.
It might have been true.
Or it might have been the quickest lie available.
Before she could continue, Cole shouted from across the field.
“Ma'am!”
They both turned.
Military police had opened the equipment shed.
One officer carried out a small plastic bag.
Inside was a utility knife.
Captain Pierce walked toward them.
His face looked grim.
“They found it behind the harness rack.”
Briggs shrugged.
“Then test it.”
“They already checked the handle.”
Briggs stopped moving.
Pierce looked at him.
“Your name is etched into it.”
The color drained from Briggs's face.
Avery didn't celebrate.
Because Briggs looked genuinely shocked.
And that was when she began considering a possibility she hadn't expected.
Maybe Wade Briggs wasn't the saboteur.
Maybe somebody wanted Avery to believe he was.
Briggs stared at the knife.
Then at Avery.
“I've been looking for that for three days.”
Pierce ordered him to report to headquarters.
Two military police officers stepped forward.
Briggs didn't resist.
Before they escorted him away, he leaned toward Avery.
“You want to know something?”
She waited.
“The night before you got here, somebody broke into my locker.”
Avery's eyes narrowed.
“Why didn't you report it?”
“Because nothing was missing.”
He glanced toward the knife.
“Apparently I was wrong.”
And suddenly Avery understood.
May you like
Someone had targeted both of them.
The question was why.
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