Chapter 8 - The Name in the Army Ledger
Elias read the sentence repeatedly.
He remembered Tomas now.
Not his face.
His voice.
Years earlier, Tomas had once delivered a sealed report to Elias's commanding officer.
Elias had signed the receipt.
That was all.
Or so he had believed.
They traveled to San Pedro.
At the county office, they found military transfer documents.
One listed Tomas.
Another listed Voss.
A third carried Elias's signature.
Naira stared at it.
“You signed this.”
“I signed receipt of a sealed packet.”
“You helped them.”
“I didn't know.”
“How convenient.”
Elias recoiled.
Naira regretted it immediately, but pain had found a target.
“You were part of the machine that swallowed him.”
“Yes.”
That stopped her.
Elias didn't defend himself.
“I was.”
He placed the document down.
“And if helping you uncover this costs me everything, that's still less than what it cost Tomas.”
Naira looked away.
That evening she apologized.
Elias accepted.
Then they discovered the most important record yet.
Tomas had not been transferred as a prisoner.
Officially, he had been listed as a paid civilian scout.
Voss had forged his employment records while holding him captive.
It explained the money.
It explained Crawford.
It explained why no official investigation had begun.
Tomas hadn't vanished on paper.
He had continued earning wages.
Wages Voss had collected.
Fraud.
Kidnapping.
Forced labor.
And perhaps murder.
May you like
They finally had something authorities could prosecute.
But Voss was already coming for them.
