A sergeant reported that a disciplinary action had disappeared from his record.
A civilian employee resigned after allegedly being threatened by a supervisor.
Two soldiers requested transfers.
One withdrew his complaint before investigators could interview him.
Then another message arrived.
Three words.
THEY OWN EVERYTHING.
Evelyn had been assigned to find out who "they" were.
She expected corruption.
She expected intimidation.
She expected falsified reports.
She did not expect the first major clue to come from a vending machine.
On her fourth day at Fort Raven, Evelyn stood outside Barracks C at 6:20 in the morning.
A young private approached the vending machine.
He inserted his card.
The machine rejected it.
He tried again.
Rejected.
He checked his phone.
Then sighed.
Evelyn watched from a bench.
The soldier eventually walked away.
She approached the machine.
There was nothing unusual about it.
Except for a tiny sticker beneath the payment reader.