CHAPTER 3: THE SOLDIER WHO WASN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST
Without another word, General Harrison hurried toward the stairs.
The crowd parted automatically as he descended.
Step after step.
Faster than anyone expected from a man his age.
The competition no longer mattered.
The scores no longer mattered.
Every eye followed him.
The general reached the range floor and stopped directly in front of Noah.
His hands trembled.
The engraving on the dog tag was unmistakable.
He knew it because decades earlier, he had personally awarded it to one of the finest soldiers he had ever commanded.
A soldier officially listed as missing.
A soldier who vanished during a classified mission and was never seen again.
A soldier everyone believed was dead.
The general swallowed hard.
Then slowly looked at Noah.
"What was your father's name?"
The entire range leaned forward.
Waiting.
Listening.
Noah met the old man's gaze.
Then answered.
"Captain Ethan Walker."
The general nearly lost his breath.
Gasps spread through the crowd.
Because everyone in military circles knew that name.
Captain Ethan Walker was a legend.
Decorated.
Respected.
Officially missing for more than a decade.
And according to every government record that existed...
He was never supposed to have a son standing here.
The general stared at Noah for several seconds.
Then something unexpected happened.
He saluted.
Not the boy.
The name.
The memory.
The man he thought he'd lost forever.
Noah reached into his hoodie pocket.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then handed the general a sealed envelope.
"My father said you'd know what to do with this."
The general looked at the handwriting on the front.
His face turned pale.
Because it was Ethan's handwriting.
And the letter had been written only three weeks earlier.
Which meant one thing.
Captain Ethan Walker wasn't dead.
He was still alive.
May you like
Somewhere.
Waiting.
