Chapter 9 - THE MAN WEARING DANIEL'S NAMEThe trail led to Baltimore.
A private defense contractor occupied three floors of a glass building near the harbor.
Officially, it designed battlefield communication software.
Unofficially, millions of dollars had moved through accounts associated with Ghost designations.
Maya entered undercover.
Marcus hated the idea.
“You're recognizable.”
“Only if someone knows who I am.”
“Your face was on military news after the investigation.”
Maya stared at him.
“Are you suggesting I'm famous?”
“Unfortunately.”
She almost smiled.
Inside the contractor's archive, Maya discovered something worse than financial fraud.
Training profiles.
Hundreds.
Young soldiers categorized according to stress tolerance, family history, aggression, grief, and psychological vulnerability.
Hale's project hadn't died.
Someone had privatized it.
Then a voice spoke behind Maya.
“Staff Sergeant Reeves.”
She turned.
A man in a charcoal suit stood in the doorway.
He looked approximately fifty.
Calm.
Unarmed.
“Who are you?”
“Someone who admired Nightfall.”
Maya's hand tightened.
“You murdered my team?”
“No.”
He smiled.
“But their deaths taught us more than their lives ever could.”
Maya hit him.
Hard.
Security alarms erupted.
The man collapsed against a desk laughing.
“Still impulsive.”
Maya grabbed his collar.
“Name.”
“Dr. Jonathan Vale.”
Maya knew it.
Vale had served on the medical review board following Nightfall.
He had signed several reports claiming Maya's memory was unreliable.
“You worked with Hale.”
“I worked above Hale.”
That sentence changed the investigation again.
Vale wasn't interested in Ghost's history.
He wanted its future.
And he had spent years studying one subject above all others.
Maya.
“You aren't special because you survived,” he said.
Maya stared.
“You're special because you keep rebuilding.”
He smiled.
“And I intend to discover how many times a human being can rebuild before something finally stays broken.”
Gunfire sounded downstairs.
Vale smiled wider.
“They're here.”
May you like
“Who?”
“Your next class.”
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