PART 1 CHAPTER 1: The Tribunal The fluorescent lights of the Mercer County Community Center buzzed overhead, a low-frequency drone that felt like…

PART 1   Chapter 1: The Ghost in the Machine   The desert wind carried the scent of cordite and copper blood across…

Part 1: The Fortress and the phantom Chapter 1: The Summons Norfolk Naval Station, June 1989. The heat was already rising off the…

CHAPTER 1: The Silence of the Grave I walked into my house that evening, and the first thing that hit me was the…

Part 1 Chapter 1: The Liability I had fifteen minutes before security would escort me out. Fired. Disgraced. Done. I was wiping down…

Part 1 Chapter 1: The Weight of August The heat was the first thing that hit me when I stepped out of my…

PART 1 CHAPTER 1 “Listen, Mrs. Vulov,” the volunteer coordinator’s voice carried across the hospital breakroom with that particular tone reserved for public…

Chapter 1: The Invisible Line The silence in the locker room was heavier than the metallic smell of blood. On the white tiles,…

PART 1 CHAPTER 1 The morning air outside the VA medical campus still held that crisp bite of early autumn, though you could…

Part 1: The Weight of a Promise Chapter 1: The Hour of the Promise The desert night of Ramadi, Iraq, November 15th, 2014,…