Chapter 8: The Message Meant for Maya
Maya stared at the back of the note.
Her name.
Written in Marcus’s handwriting.
Captain Maya Carter.
For a moment, the chapel disappeared.
The voices.
The guests.
The broken flowers.
Everything faded.
All she could see was the ink.
Her name.
A message she was never supposed to receive this way.
Daniel noticed her expression.
“What is it?””
Maya didn’t answer.
General Hayes turned the paper over.
The back was covered with writing.
Short sentences.
Rushed.
Like someone had written them while running out of time.
Maya stepped closer.
“I need to see that.””
General Hayes handed it to her.
Her fingers shook as she held it.
The first line made her stop breathing.
“Maya, if you are reading this, I failed to keep my promise.””
She covered her mouth.
Daniel watched.
“Marcus wrote that to you?””
She nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
“What promise?””
Maya looked at the words.
The memories returned.
The battlefield.
The blood.
Marcus gripping her sleeve.
His final request.
But now she realized something.
He had not been asking her to protect Daniel.
Not only that.
There had been something else.
Something she never knew.
She read the next sentence silently.
Then her face changed.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Tell me.””
Maya looked at him.
“I don’t understand.””
General Hayes watched her.
“What does it say?””
Maya lowered the paper.
“He says he lied.””
Everyone froze.
Vanessa whispered:
“About what?””
Maya looked at the note again.
“About the mission.””
General Hayes immediately became serious.
“What?””
Maya handed him the paper.
He read quickly.
His expression changed.
Daniel noticed.
“What does it say?””
The general looked at him.
“Marcus said the mission report was false.””
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“It means the official story was not the truth.””
Maya looked at Vanessa.
“You knew.””
Vanessa looked away.
“I knew there were questions.””
“Questions?””
Maya’s voice hardened.
“A soldier nearly died.””
She pointed toward the photograph.
“Someone disappeared.””
She looked at Daniel.
“And his entire family was lied to.””
Vanessa flinched.
“I was trying to fix it.””
Daniel stared.
“For three months?””
His voice cracked.
“You saw him three months ago and said nothing?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“He asked me not to.””
Daniel laughed.
A painful sound.
“So everyone trusted Marcus.””
He looked around.
“Everyone except me.””
Maya stepped closer.
“That wasn’t fair.””
Daniel looked at her.
“No.””
He shook his head.
“It wasn’t.””
The words hurt.
Because they were not aimed at her.
They were aimed at everyone who had decided what he could handle.
General Hayes folded the note.
“Marcus believed someone inside the system covered up what happened.””
Daniel looked confused.
“Inside the military?””
The general nodded.
“Yes.””
Maya looked at the officers standing nearby.
Both remained silent.
“Who?””
General Hayes did not answer.
“Marcus never named the person.””
“Why?””
“Because he didn’t know who he could trust.””
The irony was painful.
A man surrounded by soldiers who trusted him.
A family that loved him.
A woman who saved his life.
And still, he was afraid.
Daniel looked at the old photograph again.
“What happened that night?””
Nobody answered.
Then one of the officers quietly spoke.
“General.””
Everyone turned.
The officer looked uncomfortable.
“There’s something you should know.””
General Hayes looked at him.
“What?””
The officer glanced at Maya.
Then Daniel.
“We found another file.””
Daniel frowned.
“Another file?””
The officer nodded.
“One that was sealed.””
General Hayes’s expression changed.
“Where?””
The officer hesitated.
“At the bottom of Marcus Reed’s original investigation.””
Maya felt uneasy.
“Why was it sealed?””
The officer looked down.
“Because the person who ordered it sealed…”
He stopped.
Daniel waited.
“Who?””
The officer slowly answered.
“General Hayes.””
Everyone looked at him.
The room went completely silent.
Maya stared at the general.
Daniel’s face changed.
“You?””
May you like
General Hayes did not deny it.
And that was the most frightening answer.
