My mother-in-law shaved my head while I slept on the very night the United States Army promoted me into one of the most important commands of my career.

I closed my eyes.

“And Mara,” she added, “there are files on other women.”

My eyes opened.

“What?”

“At least four. Maybe more. Women connected to military benefits, pensions, insurance payouts, or property settlements. Some older. Some widowed. One missing.”

The room seemed to lose oxygen.

Ryan and Linda had not simply targeted me.

I was not the first battlefield.I was the one they had misjudged.