Chapter 8
They took me to Fort Bragg under protective transport.
My family stayed behind under guard.
My mother screamed my name from the porch.
I did not turn around.
Not because I did not love her.
Because I did.
And that was the problem.
Love had made me slow.
At the base hospital, a doctor checked the baby.
Strong heartbeat.
Steady movement.
I cried when I heard it.
Grant stood by the door, giving me privacy she knew I would not ask for.
Afterward, she sat across from me in a secure room.
“We exhumed the casket.”
My hands went numb.
“And?”
“The body was not Marcus.”
I closed my eyes.
The room tilted.
Grant continued.
“It was Staff Sergeant Daniel Pierce. Missing from a training accident six months ago.”
“Oh my God.”
“His family was told his remains were unrecoverable.”
My grief twisted into horror.
Someone had stolen a dead soldier.
Someone had buried him under my husband’s name.
I whispered, “Is Marcus alive?”
Grant hesitated.
That hesitation nearly killed me.
“We don’t know.”
I pressed my hand to my belly.
The baby kicked.
As if reminding me to breathe.
Reeves entered with the decrypted drive.
His face was grim.
“We found video.”
Grant nodded.
“Play it.”
The screen lit.
Marcus appeared.
Alive.
Bruised.
Sitting in a dark room.
My hand flew to my mouth.
His voice cracked through the speakers.
“Amelia, if you see this, they have me.”
I sobbed once.
He leaned closer to the camera.
“Do not trust Vale. Do not trust Raymond. And do not let them take our child.”
The video glitched.
Then another voice spoke off camera.
“Tell her about the extraction.”
Marcus looked away.
May you like
A slap sounded.
The screen went black.
