Chapter 3: The Enemy Within the Unit
“Who?””
The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
Ryan Carter looked at me for several seconds.
He looked like a man standing on the edge of a cliff, knowing that one wrong step could destroy everything.
Then he finally spoke.
“Captain Daniel Voss.””
For a moment, I thought I had misheard him.
The name hung in the air.
Captain Daniel Voss.
My second-in-command.
My most trusted officer.
The man who had stood beside me through three deployments.
The man who had recommended Ryan Carter for special operations training.
I stared at Ryan.
“You’re accusing my executive officer of planting evidence?””
Ryan swallowed.
“I’m saying he’s involved.””
“That is a very serious accusation.””
“I know.””
“Do you have proof?””
His silence answered before his words did.
“No.””
I leaned back against my desk.
“So you have no proof, and you expect me to believe that you are not responsible for the classified note found in your possession.””
Ryan looked frustrated.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me.””
“Because you have given me no reason to.””
He stood up.
“Commander, you think I’m just some arrogant idiot who tried to embarrass you.””
I looked at him.
“Were you not?””
His expression tightened.
“Yes.””
The honesty surprised me.
He looked down.
“What I did in the hallway was wrong.””
I waited.
He continued.
“I was angry. I thought you didn’t deserve the position you had.””
There was no excuse in his voice now.
Only regret.
“But that note…” He looked at the paper.
“That wasn’t me.””
I picked up the file.
“Start from the beginning.””
Ryan hesitated.
“Before I tell you anything, I need to know something.””
“What?””
“Do you actually believe someone inside this unit could betray us?””
The question bothered me.
Not because it was impossible.
Because I had spent my entire career preparing for exactly that possibility.
“Yes,” I said.
His eyes narrowed.
“Even someone close to you?””
I held his gaze.
“Especially someone close.””
Ryan nodded slowly.
Then he sat back down.
“Three weeks ago, Captain Voss approached me.””
I said nothing.
“He said he had noticed my performance. Said he thought I was being overlooked.””
I folded my arms.
“He told me I was better than most of the officers here.””
A bitter smile crossed Ryan’s face.
“I believed him.””
“Why?””
“Because I wanted to.””
That answer was more honest than I expected.
“He made me feel like someone finally saw what I could become.””
Ryan looked at the floor.
“He started giving me advice.””
“What kind of advice?””
“At first? Normal things. Leadership.
Strategy. How to prepare for future command positions.””
“And then?””
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“Then he started asking questions.””
“What questions?””
“About you.””
I felt my expression change.
“What about me?””
“Your habits. Your schedule. Your meetings.””
“Did you answer?””
Ryan hesitated.
“Yes.””
The disappointment I felt was immediate.
Not anger.
Something worse.
Disappointment.
“You gave him information about your commander.””
“I didn’t know why he wanted it.””
“That does not make it acceptable.””
“I know.””
His voice became quieter.
“I thought he was mentoring me.””
I walked toward the window.
Outside, soldiers moved across the training field.
Everything looked normal.
That was the terrifying part.
Betrayal rarely announced itself.
It hid behind routine.
Behind familiar faces.
Behind handshakes.
“When did you realize something was wrong?”” I asked.
Ryan answered immediately.
“When he asked me to access the mission files.””
I turned.
“You did?””
“No.””
The answer came quickly.
“I refused.””
“Why?””
“Because it felt wrong.””
I studied him.
“And then?””
“He became different.””
“How?””
“He stopped acting like a mentor.””
Ryan looked at the note.
“He started threatening me.””
“What did he say?””
Ryan’s hands tightened into fists.
“He said people like me never get promoted because we wait for permission.””
I stayed silent.
“He told me if I wanted to prove myself, I had to take opportunities when they appeared.””
“And you?””
“I ignored him.””
“Until?””
Ryan looked embarrassed.
“Until yesterday.””
I stepped closer.
“What happened yesterday?””
“He found me after training.””
Ryan looked up.
“He told me someone had accessed my account.””
My eyes narrowed.
“He said I was being investigated.””
“He told me if I wanted to protect my career, I needed to cooperate.””
“With what?””
Ryan shook his head.
“I don’t know.””
I looked at the note again.
“Then why was this hidden in the file?””
Ryan stared at it.
“I don’t know.””
The room fell silent.
Then my office door opened.
I immediately reached for the file.
“Commander Hayes.””
Captain Daniel Voss stood in the doorway.
Exactly the person we had just been discussing.
He looked calm.
Too calm.
“Colonel Reed informed me there was an issue.””
I watched him carefully.
“Yes.””
His eyes moved to Ryan.
Then to the papers on my desk.
“What kind of issue?””
I did not answer immediately.
That pause was intentional.
Voss noticed.
He always noticed everything.
That was one of the reasons I trusted him.
And suddenly, it was one of the reasons I feared him.
“Lieutenant Carter and I are having a conversation.””
Voss smiled slightly.
“About the incident in the hallway?””
Ryan looked at him.
“What?””
Voss walked inside.
“I heard you caused quite a scene.””
Interesting.
Very interesting.
He already knew details.
“How did you hear?””
Voss stopped.
Only briefly.
Then he recovered.
“People talk.””
“Not usually about something that happened five minutes ago.””
The smile faded.
“I have people everywhere in this building, Commander.””
It sounded like a joke.
But it didn’t feel like one.
Ryan stood.
“Sir, you need to tell her the truth.””
Voss looked at him.
And something changed.
The friendly mentor disappeared.
“Be careful, Lieutenant.””
Ryan’s face hardened.
“You used me.””
Voss sighed.
“Used you?””
“You lied to me.””
I watched the exchange carefully.
A person’s reaction under pressure revealed more than their words.
Voss remained controlled.
Too controlled.
“Ryan, you are emotional right now.””
“No.””
Ryan stepped forward.
“I finally see what you were doing.””
Voss looked at me.
“Commander, I apologize. It appears Lieutenant Carter is under unnecessary stress.””
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Because the move was so obvious.
He was trying to make Ryan look unstable.
I had seen that tactic before.
Distract.
Discredit.
Control the narrative.
“Captain,” I said.
“Yes?””
“Close the door.””
A small hesitation.
Then he did.
The lock clicked.
Now there were three people in the room.
One commander.
One accused soldier.
One possible traitor.
“Captain Voss,” I said, “do you know anything about a handwritten note found inside a classified file?””
His expression did not change.
“No.””
“Do you know anything about an operation referred to as Phase Two?””
“No.””
“Do you know why your name was mentioned?””
This time, his eyes moved.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“By whom?””
Ryan stepped forward.
“You know exactly.””
Voss looked at him.
Then smiled.
Not warmly.
Not kindly.
Coldly.
“Lieutenant, you should think carefully about what you are accusing people of.””
I noticed something.
His right hand.
It was near his pocket.
Not reaching.
Not moving.
Just resting there.
A habit.
A nervous habit.
I remembered something.
Three months earlier, during a training exercise, Voss had tapped his pocket repeatedly whenever he was hiding frustration.
A tiny detail.
One I had almost forgotten.
Almost.
“Captain,” I said.
His eyes returned to me.
“Empty your pockets.””
The room went completely still.
His expression hardened.
“Excuse me?””
“You heard me.””
“Commander, that is unnecessary.””
“Empty your pockets.””
For the first time, anger appeared.
Real anger.
“You are questioning my loyalty?””
I looked directly at him.
“I am questioning everyone’s loyalty.””
The silence that followed felt heavier than before.
Slowly, Voss reached into his jacket.
He pulled out his phone.
A set of keys.
A wallet.
Then he stopped.
His hand remained inside the pocket.
I noticed.
Ryan noticed.
Everyone noticed.
“Captain.””
Voss looked at me.
“Take your hand out.””
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then he slowly removed his hand.
Empty.
But his face was different now.
The confidence was gone.
Because whatever he had been hiding was not in his pocket anymore.
It was somewhere else.
And just as I was about to question him further, my secure tablet on the desk suddenly lit up.
A new classified alert appeared.
My eyes moved to the screen.
The message contained only one sentence.
*SECURITY BREACH CONFIRMED: COMMANDER HAYES’ PERSONAL FILES HAVE BEEN ACCESSED.*
Below it was a timestamp.
Five minutes earlier.
I looked at Ryan.
Then at Voss.
Someone had entered my private files.
Someone inside my unit.
May you like
And the access code used was not Ryan Carter’s.
It belonged to the one person who was supposed to protect me.
