Page 36 of Unknown

"He sleeps in unit ten. He's been on night shift." Her question didn’t raise alarms, and the soldier carried on, working on his boots.

"Thanks," she said.

She headed to unit ten, wondering what she would find there.

As she reached the unit, she almost bumped into a big-shouldered man with a shaved head, who was heading out, carrying a kit bag. He swerved to avoid her with a mumbled apology, and then, took a better look at her, giving her a curious glance.

"Are you lost?" he asked. "This is the men's quarters."

"I'm looking for Donnie," she said.

Luckily, this man was more willing to give the correct information.

"Donnie's not here. He's off shift, so he went into town," he said.

"Do you know where?"

"To see his girlfriend." The man folded his arms.

"I'm a recruiter," Cora white-lied, showing her card. "I need some paperwork from him urgently. I'm going into town now. Do you know where I can find him?"

He shook his head. "I've no idea."

"What’s his girlfriend's name?" she tried, now looking for any lead.

His brow furrowed. "Pauline someone. Pauline - no, I can't remember her last name. But she works for Bob's Diner."

"Thanks," Cora said, turning in the opposite direction of the man with the kit bag, and getting some distance from him.

She now had enough information to track him down. But she'd need some help from outside because there was still one more suspect here to follow up on, and she didn't want to leave base before she'd finished up here. It might not be as easy to get back inside, and she had to be careful.

So she called Gabe.

"Listen, I have a possible lead," she said when he picked up. "But the guy is going to need tracking down. His name's Donnie Platter, and his girlfriend is Pauline. He went off base to see her. She works for Bob's Diner. I know that's not a lot of information, but it's all I could get."

"You want me to see if I can find him?" Gabe asked.

"Yes," Cora said. "We need to speak to him. I don't want to leave here until I've asked one other person some questions. So if you can find out where Donnie is, in the meantime, it will help."

"Sure. I'll go to Bob's Diner and ask," Gabe said.

With Donnie in the process of being tracked down, it was time for Cora to find the other hazer, Sean Bothy. Working the same way, casually, she headed back down the corridor until she reached someone heading the other way. Then, discreetly showing her name card, she asked, "Sean Bothy. Where can I find him? I need some paperwork."

The guy looked surprised. "Sean was on night shift, and he'll be asleep. He's in building twelve, but you probably don't want to wake him. He's not the happiest about being interrupted when he's asleep."

Was he asleep after a night of brutal beating and murder? Thanking the man, Cora waited until he'd turned the corner. Then, she headed the other way down the corridor, looking for unit twelve.

When she found the building, she pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The blinds were drawn, and the interior was dark and quiet, the only sound coming from the faint hum of the air conditioning. She could hear someone snoring from one of the bunks, and made her way toward it.

The snoring was coming from a bed in the corner of the room, and she could see the outline of a man sleeping under the covers. It had to be Sean Bothy. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the room.

She approached the bed, taking a closer look at the man sleeping. He was young, with sandy blonde hair and a muscular build. He looked peaceful, almost innocent.

She gently shook his shoulder, and he groaned, shifting in his sleep. She shook him again, more forcefully this time, until he opened his eyes groggily.

"What?" he growled, rubbing his eyes. Then he saw her and sat bolt upright.

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