Chapter 43 Fly
Eva hadn’t seen Maverick since breakfast that morning.
She missed him even though he hadn’t called… even though he barely acknowledged their marriage.
Still, she wanted to try. To be better. To be enough.
She called him to say she would stop by the base.
He didn’t answer.
So she texted instead.
An hour later, Eva arrived at the military base.
Her blonde hair was tied neatly, no makeup, her natural beauty glowing even under the harsh afternoon sun.
Heads turned instantly as she stepped out of her car. Soldiers paused mid conversation, mid-step, openly staring some whispering, some straightening up.
She was breathtaking, and clearly someone important.
She was heading toward Maverick’s building when,
“Look who we have here,” a familiar voice called out.
Eva turned. “Uncle Vincent, good evening,” she greeted warmly.
“The base lit up like this for a reason,” Vincent said with a flirtatious smile. “Now I know why.”
Eva blushed lightly. “You flatter me, Uncle. How’s your health? I heard you were sick that’s why you left the wedding early.”
For a second, something flickered across Vincent’s eyes.
Then he smiled again. “Ah, yes. Much better now. See?” He stomped his foot lightly. “All strength returned.”
“That’s wonderful.” Eva glanced in the direction of Maverick’s office.
“You’re here to see your husband?” he asked knowingly.
“Yes,” she replied.
“You didn’t call him?” Vincent raised a brow. “I saw him leaving the base early this morning.”
Eva’s brows pinched before she forced another smile.
“I’ll wait for him then. Take care, Uncle.”
She walked away gracefully.
Vincent watched her for a beat too long before turning and leaving.
Private John spotted her the moment she entered Maverick’s block.
He straightened. “Welcome, Mrs. Captain!”
The other soldiers followed quickly, murmuring greetings and avoiding eye contact respect mixed with slight awe.
Everyone knew who she was: General Edwards’ daughter and Captain Maverick’s wife.
Eva smiled warmly. “Hi… John, right?”
“Yes, ma’am! Thank you for remembering!”
“I have a good memory,” she said with a soft laugh. “Where’s my husband?”
“Uh, the Captain went out, ma’am. But you can wait for him inside.”
“Thank you.” She handed him one of the bags she carried. “Share this with the others, please.”
John’s grin widened. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Captain!”
Eva stepped into Maverick’s office.
The scent hit her immediately: cold, clean, sharp exactly like him.
Her heart fluttered.
She set his gift bag on the table her eyes wandered taking in the scattered files, maps. His black jacket on the chair.
The family portrait on the wall drew her in. General Richard,Eleanor, Maverick and Boyle.
Eva approached slowly, fingertips brushing over Maverick’s face in the photo.
“I’ll choose you… over anything,” she whispered.
Her smile wavered when her eyes drifted to Boyle’s softer expression, but she forced herself to turn away.
She took Maverick’s seat wanting to feel, even for a second, what it was like to belong in his world.
Her eyes swept the desk. A drawer was slightly open. She noticed something sticking out of his drawer. Curious, she pulled it open it was a bag from Ivory Jewel House.
Inside it were two bracelet cases and a receipt.
Her heartbeat quickly sharpened. Bracelets? Two?, when she opened it the cases were empty, her brows creased.
Her fingers touched the receipt she was just about to open it when…
The door swung open.
Maverick stepped in.
He paused, taking in the sight of Eva sitting in his chair, the bag in her hand.
His expression remained cold, unreadable.
Eva shot to her feet, her face lighting up. She rushed toward him and wrapped her arms around him.
“You are back, I waited for some time”
“What are you doing here?” he asked, not returning the hug. His blood was boiling he hated how things had ended between him and Heaven. He hated hurting her.
Maverick had dropped Heaven off back at the temple, The way she’d looked at him afraid, trembling, tears clinging to her lashes and the redness of her wrist replayed like a punishment in his mind. He was pissed already.
Her smile cracked, pain flickering across her eyes. “I came to see my husband… who left home a day after our wedding and wouldn’t even call me or answer me.” Her voice shook. She was hurt ,deeply.
“I’m working, Eva.” He answered her ignoring her slightly risen voice. He eased her away and walked past her towards his seat.
She hurried after him and hugged him again, trying desperately not to lose her grip on the image of the loving wife she wanted to be.
“Maverick… I’m sorry. Can you please make out time for me? Hmm? We could… get to know each other…”
Her voice trailed off,she saw it.
A long strand of brown hair on his shirt.
Her breath stopped. Her heart thudded painfully against her ribs.
Maverick pulled away, not realizing what she’d noticed.
“I’ll come home tomorrow.” He passed her, picking up the bracelet cases and the receipt with calm, practiced motions, slipping them back into his drawer like they were nothing.
Eva stood rooted to the spot the smile on her lips frozen, her mind collapsing inward.
Was he… seeing someone else?
“Okay… Maverick,” she whispered softly. “It’s getting late. I’ll go.”
He nodded once, not looking up.
She walked out with perfect posture, her steps graceful, her smile intact.
But inside her chest, something cracked so quietly, even she couldn’t fully hear it yet.
After she left mavericks hand hovered over his phone. He unlocked it and opened Heaven’s contact.
Then the door burst open.
John rushed in, clutching a laptop, panting. “Captain, I found something. You need to see this.”
Maverick’s brows furrowed. “What is it?”
John set the laptop on the desk and clicked a file open.
CCTV footage from the detention corridor flickered to life the same place Private Peter had been held before his death.
The corridor was dim, the silence on-screen thick and heavy.
Nothing seemed out of place.
Maverick leaned back, expression unreadable. “What exactly am I supposed to see?”
John bent closer, pointing at the screen. “There. That fly.”
Maverick’s jaw flexed. His mood was already knife-edge thin; he wasn’t in the frame of mind to study insects. But he stayed silent.
“Now watch carefully.” John tapped again.
The fly flickered and then vanished.
Maverick straightened, eyes narrowing.
“Pause it.”
John froze the frame. “It’s gone. See that? The timeline doesn’t skip, but the fly disappears. Someone tampered with this.”
Maverick replayed the seconds in slow motion.
There it was the flicker, a seamless splice invisible except you took a closer look.
“Fuck,” Maverick muttered, voice low and sharp.
He straightened, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “This footage is cut. Someone merged two feeds.”
“Exactly, Captain,” John nodded, voice urgent. “Whoever did it is a professional. If it was cut then someone visited Peter before he hanged himself.”
Maverick’s fingers drummed once against the desk.
“Which means it wasn’t suicide out of nowhere. Someone triggered him.”
“Yes, sir. Based on timestamps, the tampered section falls between 20:00 and 21:00 hours. His estimated time of death is between 22:00 and 23:00.”
Maverick’s stare hardened. “Have you checked the original file?”
John swallowed. “Sir, this is the original file straight from MCID. Whoever did this had access inside the system.”
Silence stretched thick, heavy.
The bluish glow from the laptop screen washed over Maverick’s face, sharpening every line of it.
“I’ll visit Captain Collins at MCID tomorrow,” he said finally. “Get me a secure copy of this clip.”
“Yes, sir.” John saluted, ready to leave when Maverick’s voice stopped him.
“Private John.”
He turned. “Sir?”
Maverick studied him quietly. “Why are you helping this hard?”
John hesitated. His eyes darted away before he spoke.
“Captain Boyle was a good man. I just want to give his death closure… so he can rest in peace.”
A long silence followed. Then Maverick gave a single nod.
With that, John left the room.
Outside, John paused. His reflection glinted off his glasses. Something unreadable passed across his eyes before he walked away.
Inside, Maverick’s mind churned.
The stolen ammunition, the movement through the abandoned general quarters, a restricted zone with no cameras.
Now, a suspect visited before his death, the entry unrecorded.
And a tampered file from inside MCID.
He clenched his fists.
Who visited Peter?
And how deep did this conspiracy go?
His phone dinged.
A coded message flashed across the screen.
Maverick opened it, his brows drew tight as he decrypted the code.
Then his screen filled with words that made his blood run cold.