My hand trembled.
My voice didn’t.
“You need to make that call now.”
His smile widened.
“Are you threatening an officer?”
“No.”
I looked toward the guard station.
“I’m giving you the last chance you’re going to get.”
Four minutes later, the first siren sounded.
Miller’s smile vanished.
A second alarm answered deeper inside Fort Liberty.
Then another.
Steel barriers lurched across the roadway.
Gates slammed shut.
Soldiers moved instantly.
Weapons came forward.
Orders burst over radios.
Personnel poured from nearby buildings.
Miller turned in a slow circle.
“What the hell is happening?”
Nobody answered.
Then the sky began to thunder.
Three Black Hawks swept over the tree line in tight formation.
Rotor wash ripped dust from the pavement and whipped my hair across my bleeding face.
Miller stumbled backward.
The helicopters touched down beyond the gate.
Their doors opened almost together.
A senior officer jumped from the lead aircraft and marched straight toward us.
Every soldier near Miller snapped to attention.
The officer ignored them.
