Perfect.
Complete.
Untouched.
Except for the man being led away.
Because Ethan Cole was not supposed to be there.
He was not supposed to remember.
And the sixth soldier had never officially existed.
Then the commanding officer stopped.
Ethan heard paper shift behind him.
He turned.
The officer had reached beneath his coat.
In his hand was a sealed black folder.
His face had changed.
He opened it just enough to see the first page.
Then looked directly at Ethan.
“Then why,” he whispered, “is your signature on the mission order?” 👇
Ethan stopped walking.
The military police beside him stopped too.
Rain ran from the edge of his hair into the collar of his coat, but he did not feel it. His attention had narrowed to the black folder in the commanding officer’s hands and the single fact that should have been impossible.
His signature still existed.
The officer looked at the page again.
“Ethan Cole,” he said, louder now. “This is your signature.”
Nobody in the courtyard moved.
Ethan turned fully.
“Let me see it.”
The man in the dark suit near the back stepped forward at once.
“Sir, that material is compartmented.”
The commanding officer did not close the folder.
“Then perhaps someone should explain why compartmented material was placed in my ceremony packet.”
The suited man stopped.
