This time, Hayes followed his gaze.
A camera.
A small red indicator light.
She slowly turned toward Mitchell.
“Lieutenant, turn off the room's internal audio feed.”
Mitchell checked the tablet.
“Already done, ma'am.”
Hayes looked back at Walker.
“Now tell me.”
Walker swallowed.
“There was a second officer.”
“Name?”
“Colonel Andrew Pierce.”
Hayes went still.
Mitchell noticed immediately.
“Ma'am?”
Hayes didn't answer.
She took out her phone and opened a secure contact list.
She selected a number.
“Colonel Hayes,” she said when the call connected. “I need you to verify the current location of Colonel Andrew Pierce.”
A pause.
Then a voice responded.
Hayes listened.
Her expression became increasingly serious.
“Understood.”
She ended the call.
Mitchell approached.
“What's wrong?”
Hayes looked at him.
“Colonel Pierce was transferred out of the country six months ago.”
“Isn't that normal?”
“Not when the transfer order was signed by someone who died two years ago.”
Mitchell stared at her.
Hayes picked up the documents.
“Someone has been using a dead officer's authorization to move personnel and equipment through this base.”
She looked toward the sealed hangar.
“And Sergeant Walker may be the least important person involved.”
At 10:42 a.m., Colonel Hayes entered the base commander's office.
General Nathaniel Cross was waiting behind his desk.
He was a tall man in his early sixties, with silver hair, a neatly pressed uniform, and the calm expression of someone who had spent decades making difficult decisions.