Chapter 8: The Secret Mission
The footage remained frozen on the screen.
A younger version of Nia Carter stood in the hallway.
Unaware.
Unprepared.
And surrounded by secrets.
Marcus looked at the paused image.
“How long was this hidden?””
The evidence officer checked the file information.
“Six months.””
Maya stared.
“Someone kept surveillance footage of Sergeant Carter for six months?””
Nia didn’t hear her.
She was focused on the screen.
On herself.
On the person standing just outside the camera’s view.
A memory was trying to return.
But every time she reached for it, it disappeared.
Marcus noticed her expression.
“Nia.””
She looked at him.
“I know that hallway.””
“From your injury?””
She nodded.
“I woke up there.””
Maya stepped closer.
“You woke up inside the base?””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you report it?””
Nia looked confused.
“I did.””
Marcus looked at the records.
“And?””
“There was no report.””
The room went silent.
Again.
Another missing piece.
Another erased moment.
Marcus closed the file.
“Someone has been deleting your life.””
Nia looked at him.
“Then why leave this?””
Marcus stared at the screen.
“Because they want you to find it.””
A chill moved through the room.
Maya frowned.
“That makes no sense.””
“It does,” Marcus said.
He looked at Nia.
“If someone wanted her gone, they would erase everything.””
Nia understood.
“They want me searching.””
Marcus nodded.
“They want you following a path.””
Evelyn entered the doorway.
Everyone turned.
Marcus immediately moved toward her.
“You shouldn’t be here.””
“I know.””
She looked at the screen.
Then at Nia.
“It started with the mission.””
Nia froze.
“What mission?””
Evelyn looked surprised.
“You don’t remember?””
Nia’s voice became sharp.
“Stop asking me that.””
Evelyn stepped back.
“I’m sorry.””
Marcus looked between them.
“What mission?””
Evelyn took a breath.
“My son was involved.””
“How?””
“He wasn’t supposed to be.””
“That’s not an answer.””
Evelyn looked at Nia.
“Your unit was investigating stolen military equipment.””
Marcus frowned.
Nia shook her head.
“I wasn’t assigned to that.””
“You were.””
The answer came from Evelyn.
Nia stared.
“No.””
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.””
Marcus opened the personnel database.
He searched.
Then stopped.
His expression changed.
“What?””
Maya asked.
Marcus looked at the screen.
“Her assignment history.””
Nia stepped closer.
The record showed nothing unusual.
Then Marcus opened a restricted section.
A hidden assignment.
No public details.
No location.
No mission report.
Only one line.
*Operation Silent Shield.*
Nia stared.
“I’ve never seen that.””
Marcus looked at her.
“Because it was classified.””
“Why don’t I remember?””
Nobody answered.
Then Evelyn spoke softly.
“Because the mission failed.””
Nia turned.
“What happened?””
Evelyn looked down.
“My son tried to expose what happened afterward.””
“And?””
“He disappeared.””
The room went silent.
Maya lowered her microphone.
“Wait.””
She looked at Evelyn.
“You said your son was injured in the crash.””
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.””
“But now you’re saying he disappeared?””
Evelyn’s eyes filled with fear.
“I’m saying the person who came back was not the same.””
Nia felt a sudden pressure in her chest.
A memory.
A voice.
A conversation.
Someone saying:
You need to forget.
She grabbed the edge of the table.
Marcus noticed.
“Nia?””
She closed her eyes.
“I remember something.””
Everyone went still.
“What?””
She breathed slowly.
“Before I woke up.””
“What happened?””
Nia opened her eyes.
“There was someone there.””
Marcus leaned closer.
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
A pause.
“But they said…”
Her voice broke.
“They said the mission was never about the equipment.””
Maya whispered:
“Then what was it about?””
Nia looked at the black SUV outside.
“The people protecting it.””
The answer terrified everyone.
Because it meant the enemy was not someone hiding outside the system.
The enemy was inside.
Marcus turned back to the screen.
“Can we recover the rest of the footage?””
The evidence officer nodded.
“There’s another encrypted section.””
“Open it.””
The officer typed.
The screen changed.
A new message appeared.
*ACCESS REQUIRES TWO AUTHORIZATIONS.*
Marcus frowned.
“Two?””
“Yes.””
“Whose?””
The officer looked at the screen.
Then slowly turned.
“Sergeant Carter.””
A pause.
“And Evelyn Cross.””
Nobody spoke.
Evelyn went pale.
Nia looked at her.
“You knew.””
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.””
But her voice was no longer convincing.
The system waited.
Two names.
Two fingerprints.
Two people connected to a secret neither of them remembered.
Marcus looked between them.
“Then we find out what both of you were hiding.””
The door suddenly slammed open.
A military police officer rushed inside.
“Captain.””
Marcus turned.
“What?””
The officer held a photograph.
“We found the person who accessed the SUV before the crash.””
Marcus took the photo.
His expression changed.
Nia saw it.
“What?””
Marcus looked at her.
May you like
And quietly said:
“You know this person.””
