Chapter 2: The Missing Minutes
I did not sleep that night.
The data strip sat on my kitchen table while Ranger lay beside the door, watching me.
He had not rested either.
That bothered me.
Dogs like Ranger did not stay awake without a reason.
Especially not after finding something connected to their handler.
At 0400 hours, I finally contacted someone I never expected to call.
Ava Mercer.
Daniel’s daughter.
She answered on the third ring.
“Who is this?””
Her voice was cautious.
I understood why.
Everyone connected to Daniel had learned not to trust unexpected calls.
“Ava, my name is Elias Voss.””
Silence.
Then her voice changed.
“You were with my father.””
“Yes.””
“You were there when he died.””
The words hit harder than I expected.
“Yes.””
She breathed slowly.
“My father’s mission was classified. Why are you calling me?””
I looked at Ranger.
The dog lifted his head.
“Because I think your father left something behind.””
An hour later, Ava arrived at my house.
She looked younger than I remembered, but her eyes carried the same determination Daniel had.
The same refusal to walk away.
When she saw Ranger, she stopped.
“He’s still alive.””
I nodded.
“He was never the problem.””
Ava looked at me.
“What does that mean?””
I placed the data strip on the table.
Her expression changed instantly.
“Where did you get that?””
“Ranger’s collar.””
She touched it carefully.
“My father made that collar.””
I froze.
“What?””
She swallowed.
“He built it himself before his last deployment. He said if anything happened, Ranger would bring the truth home.””
The room became silent.
For years, I had believed Daniel’s final words were lost.
Now I wondered if they had been hidden in plain sight.
We took the data strip to an old military contact who still owed Daniel a favor.
The files opened after hours of work.
The first thing we saw was the mission timeline.
And immediately, something felt wrong.
The official report said the operation lasted six hours.
But the original data showed eight hours and seventeen minutes.
A missing gap.
Two hours and seventeen minutes erased.
Ava leaned closer.
“Why would someone remove time?””
I stared at the screen.
“Because something happened during those hours.””
We searched further.
The mission report listed Daniel as leading the extraction team.
But the original file showed another name.
Thomas Reed.
A senior intelligence officer.
A man who had disappeared from military records after the mission.
Ava looked at me.
“Who is Thomas Reed?””
I hesitated.
“Someone who was never supposed to be part of that operation.””
Ranger suddenly stood.
His ears pointed toward the hallway.
Then he walked to my front door.
I followed.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Then I saw it.
A small envelope placed outside.
No name.
No address.
Inside was a photograph.
Daniel.
Standing beside Ranger before the final mission.
On the back were six words.
YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT THE DOG.
My stomach tightened.
Ava read it over my shoulder.
“My father wrote this?””
“No.””
I turned the photograph over.
At the bottom was a signature.
Thomas Reed.
Ava stepped back.
“Someone wants us to find him.””
“Or someone wants us to think that.””
Before she could answer, Ranger suddenly growled.
Not at the door.
At the photograph.
I looked closer.
There was something hidden behind the picture.
A tiny mark.
A symbol.
I had seen it before.
On Daniel’s equipment.
On classified mission files.
A symbol that meant only one thing.
Compromised operation.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Captain Voss.””
The voice was distorted.
But I recognized the fear behind it.
“Stop looking into Daniel Mercer’s mission.””
I looked at Ranger.
Then at Ava.
“Who is this?””
The caller breathed heavily.
“Someone who knows what really happened.””
A pause.
Then the voice whispered:
“Your team leader didn’t die because the mission failed.””
The line went silent.
I stared at the phone.
“What did he die because of?””
The caller disconnected.
And seconds later, another message appeared.
One sentence.
May you like
One name.
COLONEL MARCUS HALE KNOWS.
