The contractor, a smooth-talking man named Vance, had a reputation for exploiting the system. He’d slipped supplies out of the base before, always skimming enough to escape suspicion. Tyler noticed him lingering near the storage tents, too casual, too confident.
“Something’s off,” Tyler muttered to his squadmate, Ramirez.
“You think it’s him?” Ramirez asked, hand on rifle.
Tyler nodded. “Yeah. And this time, we don’t let him walk away.”
Hours later, Vance attempted the theft again. Tyler and Ramirez caught him red-handed, trying to smuggle a case of high-grade night-vision goggles into a civilian vehicle. The confrontation escalated. Vance lashed out verbally, hurling threats and insults, claiming rank and protocol would protect him. He even called Tyler a troublemaker, daring to implicate him in misconduct.
