Instead, she looked at the aircraft behind him.
“Lieutenant, how many maintenance records did we recover?”
“Twenty-seven, ma'am.”
“And how many were altered?”
“Twenty-three.”
A murmur spread through the hangar.
Walker shook his head.
“This is a misunderstanding.”
Hayes finally looked at him.
“Is it?”
“Ma'am, I didn't know who you were.”
“That's the problem, Sergeant.”
She stepped closer.
“You believed you could treat anyone you considered unimportant however you wanted.”
Walker's expression tightened.
“I was just protecting the hangar.”
“By refusing an authorized inspection?”
“I didn't know—”
“By ordering a colonel to leave?”
“I was following procedure.”
“By shouting at a superior officer in front of your personnel?”
Walker looked toward the others.
No one came to his defense.
Hayes turned to Lieutenant Mitchell.
“Proceed.”
Mitchell nodded.
He approached Walker and displayed an official document.
“Sergeant Daniel Walker, you are being temporarily relieved of your operational duties pending an investigation into suspected falsification of maintenance records, unauthorized aircraft transfers, and obstruction of a federal military inspection.”
Walker's eyes widened.
“Wait. What?”
Mitchell continued.
“Please place your hands behind your back.”
Walker took a step backward.
“You can't do this!”
“Hands behind your back, Sergeant.”
“I'm not going anywhere!”
Two security personnel entered through the hangar doors.
Hayes raised one hand.
“Don't make this worse.”
Walker looked at her, his anger replaced by panic.
“You have no idea what you're doing.”
Hayes's expression remained cold.