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Cora strolled in, heading for a group of two women and one man who were standing near the door. They were deep in conversation, and their faces were grave. One of them, a young woman with a buzz cut, looked up as Cora approached.

She didn't look pleased at the intrusion. She looked wary and suspicious.

"I'm Trisha Moss," Cora falsely introduced herself in a quiet voice, tapping her name tag. If there was one thing that might persuade Army people to talk, it was seniority. So she was going to fake it, and create a story that would hopefully help to build trust. "I’m the deputy commander from the barracks south of here. I came on base for a meeting because the commander here is worried about what’s going on. The meeting is due to start in half an hour, but I have my doubts about how this whole situation is being handled. While I wait, I thought I’d try to find out more. I’ll treat it confidentially."

The group exchanged glances, but no one spoke up. Cora could tell they were hesitant to share information with a stranger.

She tried a different approach. "I overheard some guys talking about recent murders. They said they all happened around here. Do you guys know anything about that? I mean, that's very serious. Something like this shouldn't get hushed up. If it’s being hushed up, then I can expose it. I’m not one of the crew from here. You know that."

The group fell silent, and Cora could see the tension rise again. But then, one of the soldiers, a young man with a serious expression, spoke up.

"Yeah, I knew the guy who was killed. Not well, just slightly. His name is Paul Bedford. I trained with him a few times."

"Do you know what happened?"

The group exchanged glances again. The atmosphere of fear was tangible. But at the same time, Cora could tell they wanted to talk. They knew that this had to be exposed. And in a small group, she got the sense there was less personal responsibility hanging over them than there would be individually. If she'd talked to them one-on-one, she didn't think this would have gotten so far.

"I heard he was found beaten up," the woman with the buzz cut said. "His head was smashed in. Like, a hazing incident that went too far."

"I heard he'd been in trouble before," the other woman said.

"For what reason?" Cora asked.

"I don't know. I just heard that there was some kind of disciplinary hearing recently," someone else mumbled.

This was interesting.

Cora leaned in, her interest piqued. "Disciplinary hearing? Do you know what it was for?"

"No, we were discussing it just now. None of us know the details, but we're all feeling like this shouldn't be happening. Like something's being covered up," the young man with the serious expression said. "None of us feel safe here anymore. And we don't know who we can trust."

“We can trust nobody,” the woman with the buzz cut said, giving Cora a suspicious glare.

Cora nodded. "I understand how you feel. I'm trying to find out more. If any of you hear anything, or if you think of anything that might be helpful, please let me know. I'm here to help." She handed them a card with her cellphone number scribbled down on it, and no name. Names wouldn't be helpful seeing she was wearing a tag with a false name on it.

But she'd gotten some information of value. The victim had been involved in something that had merited a disciplinary hearing. That was fairly serious, and there should be a record of it. The only problem was that this information would be treated with secrecy and there was no way she could get ahold of it.

Or was there?

Maybe, Cora wondered, she could take advantage of the chaos on base. At the moment, the entire base was topsy turvy. That was obvious.

If the admin offices were in a state of disruption, could she possibly gain access to some of the victims' records?

She might be on a road to nowhere here, but it was worth a try.

At any rate, she might find someone willing to talk.

But she didn’t know how long she’d have before one of these suspicious and fearful soldiers decided to check her credentials and found out that her story was fake. Hoping her cover held up for long enough, she turned and walked in the direction of the main offices.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

She wasn't going to find anyone willing to talk. Cora saw that immediately. She didn't even have to go into the main admin offices to see that. She could tell from outside, listening to the man at the front desk turn away someone who'd come in innocently looking to get a copy of a document.

"You can't come here now!" the man blustered. "The offices are closed due to an emergency situation. Everything's on lockdown.No copies available! You'll have to come back another time."

Cora stepped back, keeping herself out of sight. She knew she wasn't going to get any information from that guy, and didn't want him to see her. She'd had enough trouble already with being recognized at inopportune times.

The admin offices were closed up tight, but she wasn't one to give up so easily. She knew there had to be a way to get her hands on those records, and she was determined to find it.

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