Page 9 of Hard to Kill

When Aimes skittered around the corner and into her study late in the afternoon, five weeks into the project, Kellen had finally decided to give up for the day, but she made a concerted effort to look alert and not at all tired.

“Captain Adams, the general would like an update on the project.” He stood at attention, all spit and polish and obnoxious devotion.

“Major Aimes, you may tell the general that I’m feeling confident that soon we’ll be able to follow the code, and I hope we’ll get that reward for Corporal Roy.”

Aimes could not hide his surprise. “Corporal Roy?”

Kellen was confused. “Yes, the soldier General Slater is trying to help by cracking his great-grandfather’s code.” Certainly Aimes must know this. The general kept him in the loop on everything.

Still, Aimes’s face looked like a giant question mark. He seemed to gather himself and put on a more neutral look.

At that moment, Kellen realized that something was terribly wrong.

Aimes kept his expression carefully blank. “I’ll pass on your message to the general. Have a good evening, Captain.”

Then he was gone, leaving Kellen alone with her computer and the files on Chester Roy. She searched the files but found nothing about Roy’s great-grandson and his military career. But when she typed “Corporal Benjamin Roy” into a search engine, an obituary from a local paper in Nebraska came up immediately.

Reading through the short article, Kellen felt a cold sweat break out.

Corporal Benjamin Roy, only son of James and Laurie Roy, was killed last month in a friendly fire incident outside of Kabul, Afghanistan. Benjamin was a local hero prior to joining the Army through his extensive volunteer work with the Boys and Girls Club, as well as his winning streak as the star running back for the local high school’s Fightin’ Falcons. He is survived by his parents, his sister, Katrina, and his beloved dog, Samson.

Kellen could barely believe it. Corporal Benjamin Roy was dead. Killed by friendly fire in a war zone, no doubt under the command of General Slater. Kellen put her elbows on the desk and her face into her open palms.

General Slater had lied to her.

Now there was no way out for her. He was her source of information; she was quite sure he wouldn’t look kindly on her request to review the file of the apparently dead Benjamin Roy. Especially since he’d told her that half the reward was going to the corporal.

Kellen felt sick to her stomach. Her headache returned, drumming against her temples.

General Slater had lied to her. And she knew the hard truth. A greedy man who would kill to claim another’s share of fame and fortune would kill again. If she could break the code, her life would be worth nothing.

When she broke the code, he would eliminate her.

5

With the fear and anger of discovering Benjamin Roy’s death fueling her, Kellen sat up through the night. In the early hours of the next morning, she rubbed her eyes and sat back in the squeaky office chair in her study.

She was so screwed.

She had managed to break Chester Roy’s code.

6

The next morning, Kellen woke at her desk, an old, familiar nightmare chasing her into wakefulness. She had dreamed Gregory was trying to push her off a great precipice. She tried to fight him, tried to scream, but she was helpless. Always so helpless. Then as she was falling, she looked up, and instead, General Slater stood at the edge of the cliff, a cheery smile on his face.

Trying her best to shake off the dream, she wiped the sleep from her eyes—and gasped and jumped.

Major Aimes stood in the doorway.

What a way to begin her day.

“Captain, when I mentioned to the general that you worked through the night, he was hopeful that you’d had a breakthrough.” Major Aimes stared at her expectantly.

Kellen carefully considered what to say. She was trapped in the general’s house. She was required to break the code. Until she did that, she had no chance for escape. So—“I’ve broken the code, Major.”

Major Aimes looked like the cat that got the cream. “Wonderful news. You know, I suggested you for this job.”

General Slater had claimed that Aimes didn’t know about the Roy journal until after he had hired her.

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