Chapter 3 - The Marine Who Never Transferred
Ryan had expected punishment.
He had expected suspension, disciplinary action, maybe the destruction of the career he had spent eleven years building.
He had not expected a missing Marine.
Major Price slid four nondisclosure agreements across the table.
Jake stared at his.
"What happens if we don't sign?"
"You leave," Price said.
Jake exhaled.
"And then?"
"Your conduct from last night proceeds through normal disciplinary channels."
Ryan looked toward Elena.
"And if we sign?"
Elena answered.
"You still answer for last night."
Ryan's jaw tightened.
"But?"
"But you help us understand what happened to Evan Shaw."
Matt finally spoke.
"Why us?"
Elena studied him.
"Because whoever buried those complaints believes you're useful."
Matt looked confused.
Elena turned toward Ryan.
"Sergeant Cole, how many disciplinary reports have you filed during the last twelve months?"
Ryan thought.
"Maybe eight."
"Fourteen."
He frowned.
"How many resulted in formal proceedings?"
Ryan said nothing.
Elena answered for him.
"Zero."
The screen displayed names.
Fourteen Marines.
Ryan recognized every one.
Most had been involved in fights, drunken incidents, insubordination, or harassment complaints.
Every case had disappeared.
"I thought command handled them," Ryan said.
"Command did."
Elena's words landed heavily.
Price changed the screen.
A flowchart appeared.
Reports went upward.
Then vanished.
At the center was one name.
BRIGADIER GENERAL WARREN KESSLER.
Jake sat back.
"No way."
Elena's eyes moved toward him.
"You know him?"
"Everybody knows him."
Kessler was a legend at the installation.
Decorated combat officer.
Public speaker.
Future candidate for a major command.
He had personally attended memorial ceremonies.
He remembered spouses' names.
He shook hands with junior enlisted personnel.
Ryan had admired him.
"General Kessler doesn't handle disciplinary paperwork," Ryan said.
"Correct," Elena replied.
"Then why is his name there?"
"Because every suppressed complaint eventually touches someone assigned to his administrative staff."
The room went quiet.
Chris frowned.
"So you're saying someone is protecting bad Marines?"
"No."
Elena shook her head.
"I'm saying someone is selecting them."
Ryan felt something cold settle in his stomach.
"For what?"
Elena opened another file.
Evan Shaw's photograph appeared beside Ryan's.
Then Jake's.
Chris's.
Matt's.
All four.
Below each photograph was a colored classification.
Ryan: RED.
Jake: AMBER.
Chris: AMBER.
Matt: GREEN.
"What does that mean?" Matt asked.
"We don't know."
Ryan stared at his classification.
"Why am I red?"
Elena closed the screen.
"That's what Shaw was trying to discover before he disappeared."
She stood.
The meeting was over.
But Ryan remained seated.
"Commander."
Elena stopped.
He looked at her.
"Why did you choose that bar?"
For the first time, Elena hesitated.
Price looked toward her.
Elena reached into a folder and removed an old photograph.
She placed it before Ryan.
The photograph showed five young Marines standing outside the same bar approximately eighteen years earlier.
Ryan recognized one.
A younger Warren Kessler.
Beside him stood another officer.
Ryan looked at Elena.
She tapped the second man.
"My brother."
Nobody spoke.
"What happened to him?" Ryan asked.
Elena's eyes remained on the photograph.
"He disappeared eighteen years ago."
Ryan felt the room change.
May you like
Elena picked up the photograph.
"His last known location was that bar."
