Beneath the Shadow of Maine
Copyright© 2026 by MF Bridges
Chapter 16: The Last Dispatch
The end of the war came not with a bang but a whimper—a weary Spanish surrender in Santiago, an uneasy silence settling over Havana. The Americans marched in as liberators, but the city watched them with guarded eyes. Michael filed his final dispatch, refusing to use the forged documents his handler had pressed upon him. He wrote instead of the cost: the dead in the streets, the hungry in the camps, the betrayal of Cuba’s promised freedom.
Lucía read the article in secret, her heart aching with pride and uncertainty. She knew Michael’s honesty would make enemies—on both sides. Their meetings became briefer, haunted by the knowledge that Michael’s time in Cuba was almost over. Rumors flew that he would be recalled to New York, and that the Americans intended to rule Cuba as their own.
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