Chapter 6 - The Soldier Who Was Erased
I didn't move.
The voice above me belonged to someone who should not have existed.
Someone who had been written off.
Someone whose name was attached to a mission report that said he never came home.
My hand remained near my weapon.
My eyes stayed fixed on the staircase.
Then the figure stepped into the light.
And every piece of my past shifted.
"Shadow."
The name escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
The man standing there froze.
Not because he was surprised.
Because he knew exactly why I said it.
He was older than I remembered.
But I didn't remember him.
That was the part that scared me most.
The face was familiar.
The eyes were familiar.
Something inside my mind recognized him.
But my memories didn't.
He slowly raised his hands.
"Easy, Evelyn."
I hated that he said my first name.
Not my rank.
Not my title.
Like he knew me.
Like he knew the person behind the uniform.
"Who are you?"
The man looked at the files around me.
Then back at my face.
"You really don't remember."
It wasn't a question.
I stepped forward.
"Answer me."
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
"My name is Daniel Vale."
The name meant nothing.
Until it did.
A flash.
A field.
A military vehicle.
A dog barking.
Someone calling my name.
Then nothing.
The memory disappeared before I could grab it.
I tightened my jaw.
"What did you do to me?"
Daniel's expression changed.
Not guilt.
Pain.
"I didn't do anything to you."
"Your name is in my files."
"So is mine."
"You were supposed to be dead."
He looked away.
"Yes."
The answer was too calm.
That made it worse.
I moved closer.
"Explain."
Daniel looked around the underground room.
"This place wasn't built to hide information."
"Then what was it built for?"
He looked at the Project Shadow files.
"To hide people."
The words hit harder than I expected.
I looked at the documents again.
Subject E-17.
Memory suppression event.
Military working dog compatibility.
The words didn't feel like information.
They felt like pieces of a life someone had taken away.
"What is Project Shadow?"
Daniel walked down the stairs slowly.
"I was part of it."
"So was I."
He nodded.
"You were the most important part."
I stared at him.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
"People keep saying that."
My voice became sharper.
"I don't need another person telling me the truth will make sense later."
Daniel stopped.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
Not of me.
Of what he had to say.
"You were never just a K9 officer."
I said nothing.
"You were selected because of your ability to connect with military working dogs after extreme trauma."
I looked at him.
"I'm a soldier."
"You were."
The word bothered me.
Past tense.
"You talk like I'm not anymore."
Daniel didn't answer.
That was enough.
I turned toward the files.
"Who authorized this?"
He didn't need to answer.
I already knew.
But I needed him to say it.
"Cross."
Silence.
I looked back.
"Say it."
"Harlan Cross."
The room felt smaller.
"Why?"
Daniel walked toward the table.
He picked up one of the folders.
"Because Project Shadow wasn't about training dogs."
He opened it.
"It was about understanding them."
I frowned.
"Understanding animals?"
"No."
He looked directly at me.
"Understanding what they remember."
The words sounded impossible.
But then I thought about Thor.
The way he recognized Marcus.
The way he protected the hidden files.
The way three dogs carried a secret everyone else wanted erased.
"What did they witness?"
Daniel placed the folder down.
"An operation that never existed."
I waited.
He continued.
"Marcus discovered that military missions were being altered after the fact."
"By Cross."
"By people above him."
I looked at the files.
"So Marcus tried to expose them."
"Yes."
"And they killed him."
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
That hesitation told me everything.
"Did they?"
I asked.
Daniel looked at me.
"No."
The room went silent.
"What do you mean?"
"Marcus wasn't killed during that mission."
My breathing stopped.
"His report says he was."
"The report was changed."
"Then where is he?"
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
Toward the kennel above us.
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
"You don't know?"
"No."
A strange emotion crossed his face.
Hope.
And fear.
"The last time I saw Marcus, he was alive."
My mind raced.
Eight months.
Everyone believed Marcus Dole was dead.
The dogs believed he was gone.
But if Daniel was telling the truth...
Then everything I knew was wrong.
A sound interrupted us.
A small vibration.
My phone.
I looked down.
Unknown number.
A message.
I opened it.
One sentence.
"Don't trust the man standing beside you."
I looked up immediately.
Daniel was watching me.
"What happened?"
I didn't answer.
Because another message appeared.
This time with a photograph attached.
I opened it.
My blood went cold.
The picture showed this exact underground room.
Taken moments ago.
From above.
From inside the room.
And Daniel and I were both visible.
Someone had been watching us.
The entire time.
I looked at Daniel.
"Who has access to this place?"
His face changed.
"I don't know."
That was the wrong answer.
Because Daniel was the only person who was supposed to know.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness.
My hand moved toward my weapon.
Daniel whispered:
"Evelyn..."
I heard movement.
Not from the stairs.
From behind us.
The hidden room had only one entrance.
Or at least I thought it did.
A metal sound echoed through the darkness.
A panel moving.
Someone else was inside.
Daniel whispered again.
"They found us."
I turned toward the sound.
My flashlight clicked on.
The beam hit the far wall.
A second hidden door was opening.
May you like
Slowly.
And standing behind it was someone wearing Marcus Dole's old military jacket...
