
Part 1 They came for me at dawn. That’s how it always begins in the movies, isn’t it? Dawn. The…

Part 1 The clock on the wall was my tormentor. 0700. Its clicks were too loud in the briefing room,…

Part 1 The hangar smelled like floor wax, jet fuel, and anxiety. It was inspection day at Naval Base Coronado,…

Part 1 The room felt like a pressurized clean box. It was the kind of space at the National Defense…

Part 1 The air in the base gym always smelled the same. Chalk, sweat, and a thick, suffocating arrogance that…

Part 1 The water was ice. It hit my chest and ran in cold rivers down to my belt, soaking…

Part 1 The fluorescent lights of the Pentagon war room hummed, a flat, sterile sound against the crushing silence. Twelve…

Part 1 The silence. That’s what I remember first. Not the laughter, not the insults, but the sound of the…

Part 1 The hangar was just noise. The metallic scream of tools, the whine of machinery—a symphony I’d heard a…

PART 1 The first thing that hits you isn’t the pain. It’s the smell. It’s a sterile, chemical sharpness that…

Part 1 The air in terminal B was thick with the smell of stale coffee and anxiety. My anxiety. I…

Part 1 The air in the Pentagon’s most secure briefing room—the War Room—was thick enough to chew. It smelled like…

Part 1 They called me the range supervisor. Sometimes, they just called me the “babysitter.” The Nevada desert wind doesn’t…

Part 1 The air in the JSOC briefing room at Fort Bragg tasted like ozone, burnt coffee, and the metallic…

Part 1 The silence was the worst part. It wasn’t a respectful quiet; it was the suffocating silence of a…

Part 1 Every town has its secrets. In Cedar Hollow, secrets weren’t just kept; they were currency. They were…

Part 1 The cold of that November night was nothing compared to the ice in my veins. It was…

The Ghost Rider’s Oath: The Longest Night (Part 1 – The Call, The Ride Out, and The Deep Dive) …

Part 1 The gravel crunched under the bald tires of my pickup, a truck that had seen at least two…

Part 1 The hangar smelled of hydraulic fluid, grease, and stale, recycled air. It was a smell I had breathed…