A Warrior's Second Chance (Faye and Alexander) novel Chapter 541

JASON

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I had barely returned my attention to the mountain of reports on my desk when my phone began to ring.

The sound cut through the silence of the office.

I frowned and reached for it without much thought.

The screen displayed the investigator’s name.

That immediately caught my attention.

He wasn’t someone who called unless he had something worth saying.

I answered the call.

“Talk to me.”

There was a brief pause before his voice came through the line.

“Alpha, are you currently in your office?”

“I am,” I replied.

Another short silence followed.

Then his tone became noticeably more serious.

“I’d like to discuss something with you in person.”

My grip on the phone tightened ever so slightly.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I’d rather not discuss it over the phone.”

That alone was enough to tell me this wasn’t routine.

1 leaned back in my chair.

“How long before you can get here?” I asked.

“Ten minutes. Fifteen at most,” he said.

“Alright,” I said. “I’ll be waiting.”

“Yes, Alpha,” he said.

The call ended.

I slowly lowered the phone onto the desk.

For a moment, I simply stared at it.

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<Chapter 539

The investigator wasn’t an emotional man.

He dealt in facts.

Evidence.

Observations.

If he wanted to speak face–to–face instead of over the phone…

Then whatever he had found was significant.

I didn’t feel particularly interested in whatever had been on my mind before.

Instead, I found myself staring absently out the office window.

My mind drifted back to everything that had happened over the past few days.

Every time I convinced myself things couldn’t become more complicated…

Something else happened.

I rubbed a tired hand across my face.

I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I had enjoyed even a single peaceful day.

A knock interrupted my thoughts.

I looked toward the door.

“Come in,” I said.

The investigator entered, carrying a thick brown folder tucked beneath one arm.

His expression was unusually grim.

That wasn’t encouraging.

He stopped a few feet from my desk.

“Alpha.”

I nodded toward the chair opposite me.

“Sit.”

He did.

Instead of speaking immediately, he placed the folder on the desk and slowly opened it.

Several photographs lay inside.

He hesitated for just a moment before sliding the first one across the desk toward me.

“I think we’ve found our missing guard,” the investigator said quietly.

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<Chapter 538

The words immediately sharpened my attention.

I looked down at the photograph.

For several long seconds…

I said nothing.

The guard’s body had clearly been recovered from somewhere outdoors.

Leaves and damp earth surrounded him.

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Judging by the lighting in the photograph, the discovery had probably been made only a short while ago.

His uniform was still recognizable despite the dirt covering parts of it.

I frowned.

Something wasn’t right.

I picked up the photograph for a closer look.

Then I noticed it.

There were no severe burn injuries.

No signs that he had been caught inside an explosion powerful enough to destroy an entire supply depot.

I slowly looked back up at the investigator.

“Where was he found?” I asked.

“Approximately two kilometers from the depot,” he said.

I frowned even more deeply.

“Two kilometers?”

He nodded.

A cold feeling settled in my stomach.

That wasn’t an accident.

Bodies didn’t simply end up two kilometers away on their own.

I looked back down at the photograph.

The investigator slid two more pictures toward me.

One showed the position of the body.

The other focused more closely on the wounds.

I studied them carefully.

<Chapter 539

The longer I looked…

The less the official explanation made sense.

Finally, I looked back at him..

“He wasn’t killed by the explosion,” I said.

The investigator slowly nodded.

“No.”

He folded his hands together.

“That was our initial assumption,” he said. “We believed he’d been caught in the blast and somehow

thrown clear.”

He shook his head.

“That theory doesn’t fit anymore.”

I lowered the photographs onto the desk.

“What did your examination show?” I asked.

The investigator leaned slightly forward.

“There are injuries consistent with physical restraint,” he said.

My expression hardened.

He continued.

“Bruising around both wrists. Evidence suggesting he struggled.”

I remained silent.

“The fatal injuries themselves…” he continued carefully. “They weren’t caused by falling debris. They weren’t caused by fire. They were inflicted directly.”

I felt something tighten inside my chest.

“Murder?”

The investigator met my eyes.

“Yes.”

The office became painfully quiet.

I looked back down at the photographs.

The missing guard had been one of ours.

Someone whose disappearance we’d initially blamed on the explosion.

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<Chapter 538

Instead…

“He had been executed.

Not caught in an accident.

Deliberately killed.

I slowly exhaled.

“Any indication of when he died?” I asked.

The investigator nodded once.

“Our preliminary estimate places his death shortly before the explosion.”

That made me look up immediately.

“Shortly before?”

“Yes.”

Another unsettling piece slid into place.

“If that’s accurate…”

I murmured more to myself than to him.

“…then whoever killed him was already at the depot before the explosion even happened.”

The investigator gave a slow nod.

“That’s our belief.”

I leaned back in my chair.

The room suddenly felt smaller.