Chapter 6 - FIRE AT THE SCRAPYARD
By the time Evan Rusk smelled gasoline, the first flames were already climbing the outside wall of his office.
He crawled beneath the desk, coughing as smoke pushed through the shattered window.
The man outside laughed.
"Should've answered the phone, Evan."
Evan reached for the plastic sleeve hidden inside the engine block.
His fingertips scraped metal.
He pulled harder.
The sleeve came free.
Inside were Miguel Ortiz's identification card and a memory card no larger than a fingernail.
Evan stuffed them into his shirt.
Then he heard footsteps entering the office.
The back door had been forced open.
He grabbed a heavy steel flashlight from beneath the desk.
Smoke thickened around the ceiling.
Someone moved through it.
"Evan."
The voice was unfamiliar.
"Come on out."
Evan stayed silent.
The man kicked a chair aside.
"We're not here to hurt you if you cooperate."
Evan almost laughed.
The office was burning.
The windows were shattered.
And the stranger wanted him to believe this was a negotiation.
He looked toward the rear exit.
Blocked.
The man stood between him and the door.
Evan tightened his grip on the flashlight.
"Where's the stuff your father told you to keep?"
The words confirmed everything.
His father had talked.
Or Conrad Voss had known about the hidden items all along.
Evan rose suddenly and threw the flashlight toward the doorway.
It struck a metal shelf.
The shelf collapsed with a deafening crash.
The stranger ducked.
Evan ran past him.
He slammed his shoulder against the back door and stumbled into the yard.
Fresh air hit his face.
He sprinted toward a line of wrecked trucks.
Behind him, someone shouted.
"Stop!"
Evan didn't stop.
He ran between a stripped pickup and an abandoned school bus.
A gunshot cracked through the air.
Metal sparked beside his head.
He dropped behind a stack of heavy steel panels.
For several seconds, he could hear nothing but his own breathing.
Then another sound reached him.
A truck engine.
One of the attackers had started Evan's loader.
The machine moved toward the steel panels.
Evan stared in disbelief.
They weren't just trying to recover evidence.
They were trying to kill him.
He crawled toward the far side of the yard.
The loader struck the stack with a violent metallic crash.
Panels toppled.
One struck the ground inches behind his boot.
Evan scrambled upright.
He saw a narrow gap beneath the perimeter fence.
It had been damaged years earlier by a fallen tree.
He dove toward it.
His shirt tore against the metal.
Then he rolled into dry grass beyond the property.
He kept moving.
Behind him, flames engulfed the office roof.
At Fort Cavazos, Lena Ortiz was standing outside the legal assistance building when her phone rang.
The number was unfamiliar.
She nearly ignored it.
Then she remembered the anonymous messages.
She answered.
"Hello?"
A man coughed violently.
"Are you Lena Ortiz?"
Her pulse quickened.
"Who's asking?"
"My name is Evan Rusk."
Lena stopped walking.
For a moment, the noises around her faded.
Evan Rusk.
The man whose scrapyard marking appeared on the wrench.
The son of the officer who had accused her of theft.
"What do you want?"
"I need help."
Lena's expression hardened.
"Call your father."
Evan made a choking sound.
"My father's the reason I'm running."
Lena looked toward the building entrance.
"What happened?"
"They burned my office."
Lena gripped the phone.
"Who?"
"Men working for Aegis Meridian."
"Call the police."
"I did."
"Then tell them everything."
Evan started coughing again.
"Your brother."
Lena froze.
"What about him?"
"I have something that belonged to him."
Every muscle in her body tightened.
"What?"
"His military identification card."
Lena's breath caught.
"And something else."
"What?"
"A memory card."
Lena closed her eyes.
For eleven months, she had searched for anything that might explain Miguel's death.
Now a man she had never met was claiming to possess items taken from the truck in which he died.
"Where are you?"
Evan hesitated.
"Outside Gatesville."
"Tell me exactly where."
He gave her the name of a country road and a nearby abandoned feed store.
Lena wrote it down.
Then she said, "Stay where you are."
Evan's voice sharpened.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because somebody's following me."
The connection cut off.
Lena stared at the screen.
She immediately called Agent Pierce.
Pierce was in a briefing when Lena's call came through.
She stepped into the hallway.
"Ortiz."
"Evan Rusk just contacted me."
Pierce went still.
"What did he say?"
"His scrapyard is burning, and he claims to have my brother's identification card."
Pierce was already moving.
"Where?"
Lena gave her the location.
"Did he mention any other evidence?"
"A memory card."
Pierce stopped.
"Did he say what was on it?"
"No."
The investigator turned toward another agent.
"Get the local sheriff's office on the line."
Then she spoke to Lena.
"Do not go there."
Lena clenched her jaw.
"He sounded injured."
"I'll request emergency assistance."
"He said somebody was following him."
"All the more reason you should stay where you are."
Lena looked across the parking lot.
An Army transport truck moved through the intersection.
She watched it disappear.
Then she said something that surprised even herself.
"I think Evan knows what happened to Miguel."
Pierce's voice softened.
"That may be true."
"I can't lose another person who knows."
"You won't help him by becoming another victim."
The words struck Lena hard.
She knew Pierce was right.
But waiting felt unbearable.
After the call, she remained outside the legal building for several minutes.
Then she heard footsteps behind her.
"Specialist Ortiz."
Lena turned.
Captain Avery Bell approached with a folder under his arm.
He commanded the maintenance company.
He was thirty-five, sharp-featured, and known for following regulations so strictly that soldiers joked he could quote the maintenance manual in his sleep.
Lena had never considered him an ally.
"Sir."
Bell looked tired.
"I've been trying to find you."
"Is there a problem?"
"Several."
He glanced toward the parking lot.
"Walk with me."
Lena followed him toward a quiet walkway.
Bell opened the folder.
Inside was her temporary reassignment order.
She recognized Rusk's signature.
Bell pointed to the approval block.
"That's supposed to be my authorization."
Lena stared at the document.
"Sir?"
"I didn't sign it."
She looked at him.
Bell's expression remained controlled.
"Somebody used my electronic credentials."
Lena felt a surge of hope.
"Then you'll tell CID."
"I already have."
Bell closed the folder.
"But that's not why I'm here."
He reached into his pocket.
He removed a small folded note.
"This was left in my office."
Lena opened it.
The message consisted of seven words.
ASK ORTIZ WHY HER BROTHER KEPT COPIES.
Lena frowned.
"Copies of what?"
Bell studied her.
"I was hoping you could tell me."
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Bell exhaled.
"Someone is trying to pull you into this from both sides."
Lena looked at the note again.
"Or someone is trying to help."
Bell's expression darkened.
"Specialist, in a case involving this much restricted property, you can't assume anyone's motives are clean."
Lena thought of Kim.
Vale.
Pierce.
Then she thought of the mysterious caller who had warned her about the wrench.
She wasn't sure whom she could trust anymore.
"Sir, do you know Conrad Voss?"
Bell's posture changed.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"He's connected to the missing shipment."
Bell glanced around.
Then he lowered his voice.
"Don't discuss Voss here."
Lena stared at him.
"Why?"
Bell's face had gone pale.
"Because three years ago, an Army auditor who questioned his company's invoices disappeared during a business trip."
Lena felt a chill.
"What happened to the auditor?"
Bell looked away.
"His body was found in a flooded drainage ditch."
"And the investigation?"
"Closed."
"Why?"
Bell's answer was barely audible.
"Accidental drowning."
Lena looked at him for a long moment.
"Do you believe that?"
Bell said nothing.
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
The caller was listed as INSTALLATION COMMAND.
He answered immediately.
"Captain Bell."
Lena watched his expression change.
"Yes, sir."
A pause.
"Understood."
Bell lowered the phone.
His face had become hard.
"Specialist Ortiz."
"Sir?"
"You're ordered to report to command headquarters at 1600."
"Why?"
Bell hesitated.
"Colonel Bramwell has requested an interview."
Lena's stomach dropped.
She stared at him.
"He's here?"
Bell nodded.
"Arrived this morning."
Outside Gatesville, Evan Rusk stumbled through tall grass with his shirt soaked in sweat.
He had reached the abandoned feed store.
The building stood beside a cracked county road.
Its windows were boarded.
The parking lot was empty.
Evan crouched behind a rusted grain trailer.
He pulled Miguel's identification card from his shirt.
The photograph showed a smiling soldier with dark hair and steady eyes.
Evan stared at the name.
STAFF SERGEANT MIGUEL ORTIZ.
He whispered, "I'm sorry."
A vehicle approached.
Evan ducked lower.
A white pickup stopped near the feed store.
A woman stepped out wearing civilian clothes and a dark jacket.
She held a badge at her side.
"Mr. Rusk?"
Evan didn't move.
"Special Agent Naomi Pierce."
He watched her carefully.
A second investigator remained by the pickup.
Pierce looked toward the grain trailer.
"Lena Ortiz called us."
Evan swallowed.
"How do I know you're really CID?"
Pierce raised her credentials.
Then she placed them on the hood of the pickup.
"You can inspect them from there."
Evan slowly emerged.
His hands were visible.
Pierce's expression softened when she saw the burns along his forearm.
"Are you injured?"
"I'll live."
"We have medical assistance on the way."
Evan looked past her.
"Did my father send you?"
"No."
"Did Voss?"
Pierce shook her head.
Evan approached slowly.
Then he removed the plastic sleeve.
"I have something."
Pierce looked at the military identification card.
Her expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"From a shipment my father made me hide."
"And the memory card?"
Evan held it up.
"This."
Pierce signaled her partner to prepare an evidence envelope.
Evan hesitated.
"If I give you this, am I going to prison?"
Pierce answered carefully.
"I can't promise you immunity."
Evan closed his eyes.
Then he looked at Miguel's photograph.
"I should have told somebody eleven months ago."
Pierce nodded.
"Then tell us now."
Evan passed her the plastic sleeve.
She began documenting the exchange.
A sharp cracking sound interrupted them.
The side mirror of the pickup shattered.
Pierce dropped behind the vehicle.
Her partner shouted.
"DOWN!"
Evan fell against the dirt.
A second shot struck the truck's windshield.
Glass sprayed across the hood.
Pierce reached for her radio.
"Shots fired!"
Evan crawled backward.
Then he saw something move inside the abandoned feed store.
A face appeared briefly between the boards.
He recognized the man.
The same attacker from his scrapyard.
But what terrified him wasn't the rifle.
It was the voice shouting from inside the building.
"Forget the memory card!"
May you like
A pause.
"Kill the investigator!"
