By the time Aria arrived at Camp Ridgeline, she already suspected Mercer’s command had touched her father’s last assignment. By the end of the first month, she knew it.

By the end of the third, she had enough to ruin careers. By the end of the sixth, she had enough to make men with medals start hiring lawyers.

That was when Mercer changed tactics. He stopped merely humiliating her and started arranging her failure.

Harlow began appearing wherever she worked. Outside the records office. Near the training yard. In the hallway after briefings. He made little comments, soft enough to deny and sharp enough to wound.

Lost again, contractor?

Careful, sweetheart. That folder looks heavy.