PART 2 “They Thought the Wraith Was Gone Forever” — Until the Apache Pilot Found Her Secret Mission
PART 2 “They Thought the Wraith Was Gone Forever” — Until the Apache Pilot Found Her Secret Mission
The military believed Specialist Corwin had disappeared.
The official report was simple.
Assignment completed. Cover compromised. Operator extracted.
No celebration.
No ceremony.
No recognition.
That was how ghosts were supposed to leave.
Quietly.
But Chief Warrant Officer Roads knew better.
Because he had seen the tattoo.
He knew the woman loading Apache ammunition was not a mechanic.
She was Wraith.
And the more he thought about it…
the more he realized something terrifying.
The mission at Forward Operating Base Shank was not her only secret.
It was only the beginning.
Three weeks after Corwin disappeared, Chief Warrant Officer Roads was back in the cockpit of his Apache.
The aircraft lifted into the morning sky, the desert stretching endlessly beneath him.
Normally, flying calmed him.
The moment the rotors started turning, everything became simple.
Altitude.
Speed.
Coordinates.
Targets.
But now there was something he could not escape.
A memory.
A woman covered in grease.
A torn uniform.
A classified tattoo.
His brother’s ghost.
Danny Roads.
For years, his family had been told Danny died during a training accident.
A clean story.
A simple story.
A lie.
Because the truth was hidden somewhere inside the black world of Task Force Wraith.
And Specialist Corwin was the only person alive who knew what really happened.
When Roads landed that afternoon, an unexpected message was waiting.
Not on his official military system.
Not through normal channels.
A handwritten note.
Three words.
“Ask about Korangal.”
Roads stared at the paper.
His heart stopped for a moment.
Only one person could have sent it.
He found Corwin two days later.
Not at a base.
Not at a military facility.
A small airfield hidden far away from normal operations.
She was standing beside another aircraft.
Not an Apache.
Something smaller.
Something designed for people who didn’t exist.
Roads approached carefully.
“You knew I would come.”
Corwin didn’t turn around.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you found the tattoo.”
A pause.
“And because Danny would have wanted you to know.”
Roads froze.
It was the first time she had said his brother’s name.
For years, Corwin had carried the memory alone.
She had carried the last moments of men whose names never appeared in official reports.
That was the price of being Wraith.
You saved people.
You disappeared.
You became a rumor.
But Danny Roads was different.
He was the one person who reminded her she was still human.
“He wasn’t supposed to be there,” Corwin said quietly.
Roads looked at her.
“What?”
“Korangal wasn’t supposed to happen.”
She looked toward the horizon.
“The intelligence was wrong.”
“How wrong?”
“Completely.”
The wind moved across the empty airfield.
“Someone gave us bad information.”
Roads felt anger rising.
“You mean someone betrayed him?”
Corwin didn’t answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
Danny had not died because of bad luck.
He had died because someone wanted a mission to fail.
And now…
someone was trying to hide it.
Corwin opened a classified file.
Roads recognized the markings.
The highest level.
“What is this?”
“The reason I was at FOB Shank.”
She pointed to the documents.
“The weapons theft was not the main operation.”
Roads frowned.
“Then what was?”
“Finding the person who has been selling classified information for years.”
The realization hit him.
“The stolen night vision equipment…”
“Was only a piece.”
Corwin nodded.
“Someone has been moving military technology, intelligence, and operational data through multiple bases.”
Roads looked at the file.
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
Silence.
The same amount of time since Wraith was erased.
Roads stared at her.
“Danny knew?”
“Yes.”
The answer came immediately.
“He discovered something before the Korangal mission.”
“What?”
“He found evidence that someone inside the system was feeding enemy groups information.”
Roads clenched his fist.
“So he was killed to keep him quiet.”
Corwin looked away.
“That is what we are trying to prove.”
The next morning, Corwin received new orders.
Not from the Army.
Not from the regular command.
From somewhere much higher.
A new mission.
A target.
A name.
She looked at the file.
Then froze.
Because the name on the page was impossible.
Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Roads.
Her eyes narrowed.
“No.”
Roads looked confused.
“What?”
She pushed the file toward him.
“This is wrong.”
His face went pale.
The military had reopened Danny’s case.
But not as a casualty investigation.
As a classified operation.
“Why would they use his name?”
Roads whispered.
Corwin studied the documents.
“Because someone wants us to find this.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone is controlling the investigation.”
A pause.
“And they want us looking in the wrong direction.”
That night, Corwin returned to the shadows.
No uniform.
No rank.
No name.
Only Wraith.
She infiltrated an abandoned communications facility believed to contain old mission archives.
The building was empty.
Too empty.
She noticed immediately.
A normal person would see an abandoned structure.
Corwin saw a trap.
The dust on the floor.
The untouched equipment.
The lack of animal tracks.
Someone had been there recently.
She moved silently.
Inside the deepest room, she found what she was looking for.
A hidden server.
Old files.
Encrypted data.
And one video.
She opened it.
The screen flickered.
Then a face appeared.
A man she recognized.
A former intelligence officer.
Someone who had been involved with the Korangal operation.
Someone who was supposed to be dead.
The man looked directly into the camera.
“Wraith.”
Corwin froze.
“If you are watching this, then they failed to bury you.”
A pause.
“And if Daniel’s brother is with you…”
The screen glitched.
“Then the truth is finally coming out.”
Suddenly…
The lights went out.
Someone else was inside.
Corwin closed the laptop.
Slowly reached for her weapon.
A voice came from the darkness.
“You always were difficult to kill.”
She recognized the voice.
A voice from her past.
A voice she never expected to hear again.
“Impossible…”
The figure stepped forward.
The room became silent.
Because the person standing there was someone who should have died seven years ago.
Someone from Task Force Wraith.
Someone who knew every secret she had.
“You thought Wraith was destroyed.”
The man smiled.
“You were wrong.”
Corwin raised her weapon.
“Who are you?”
The figure looked at her.
“The person who knows why Danny Roads died.”
A long silence.
Then he said:
“And the person who knows who betrayed Wraith.”
For the first time in seven years…
Corwin felt something she hated.
Uncertainty.
Because enemies were easy.
Enemies carried weapons.
Enemies showed their faces.
But this was different.
This was someone from her own past.
Someone who knew her real name.
Someone who knew every mission.
Every mistake.
Every ghost she carried.
The Wraith had spent years hunting enemies in the dark.
Now…
The darkness was hunting her.
To be continued…
