Chương 4
The yellow fabric under her open camouflage jacket had seemed like a good idea that morning because it was lightweight and because General Tolland’s staff had insisted she remain visibly civilian if her outer layer came off.
Now it made her feel absurdly bright in the gray examination room.
A nurse handed her a folded blanket.
Mara pulled it over her legs.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
The nurse adjusted the blood pressure cuff and glanced at the camouflage jacket.
“You Army?”
“Used to be.”
“What did you do?”
“Intelligence.”
The nurse gave her a look.
“Of course.”
Mara smiled faintly.
“What does that mean?”
“It means every former intel person I meet says things in a way that makes me regret asking.”
“Occupational damage.”
The nurse removed the cuff.
“Pressure’s better.”
“Can I leave?”
“Doctor decides.”
“What if I make a persuasive argument?”
“Then you can make it to the doctor.”
Mara sighed.
Her phone was in a plastic bag on the counter with the rest of the items removed from her ruck.
Three missed calls.
One from Brigadier General Paul Tolland’s aide.
Two from her mother.
The second was more frightening.
Mara called Command first.
Major Leila Ross answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
“Clinic.”
“How bad?”
“I’m alive.”
“That was not the question.”
“Heat exhaustion. Maybe mild heat injury. They’re watching labs.”
Ross exhaled.
“What happened with Vega?”
Mara looked toward the closed door.
“He tried to help me.”
Silence.
“That’s your opening assessment?”
“He reached for me when I went down.”
“And?”
“I slapped him.”
Ross took two seconds.
“You did what?”
“His hand.”
“Mara.”
“I didn’t plan it.”
“That somehow does not make it better.”
“He was touching me.”
“He was attempting to assist a collapsed participant.”
“I know.”
Ross made a sound in the back of her throat.
“Did you disclose?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I told him he buried Daniel’s report.”
Longer silence.
“That was not the disclosure protocol.”
“No.”
“The envelope?”
“Medic opened it after I failed the march.”
“You were supposed to avoid spontaneous confrontation.”
“Then maybe Command shouldn’t have spent three years avoiding a scheduled one.”
Ross did not answer immediately.
The air conditioner clicked on.
Mara watched the vent above the sink.
When Ross spoke again, her voice had softened without becoming warm.
“General Tolland is heading to the unit.”
“Is Vega still there?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t let them send him home.”
“Mara, we are not kidnapping a senior NCO.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
“Captain Haines showed up.”
“I know.”
“He didn’t know about the assessment.”
“He wasn’t supposed to.”
“He looked terrified.”
“People generally dislike discovering that higher headquarters has been observing them without notice.”
Mara picked at a loose thread on the blanket.
“Did Daniel’s report get routed through Haines?”
“No. Haines wasn’t in the unit then.”
“I know. I’m asking if he’d seen it since taking command.”
“We don’t have evidence of that.”
“Then don’t let anyone treat him like he did.”
Ross paused.
“Noted.”
Mara heard footsteps in the hallway.
“Major.”
“Yes?”
“What exactly happens now?”
“We stop pretending this is only a historical records review.”
Mara did not like the sentence.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning Vega’s response to you is now relevant. The unit’s response to the heat event is relevant. The missing report is relevant. The old sworn statements are relevant. And because half a platoon just heard you accuse him, the rumor problem begins approximately now.”
As if summoned by the words, Mara’s phone buzzed with a text.
Unknown number.
Is it true you’re SSG Ward’s sister?
Mara stared at it.
Ross said, “What?”
“Nothing.”
“What happened?”
“Someone already texted me.”
“Do not answer.”
“I know.”
Another message appeared.
Heard training got shut down because of Ward case. WTF is going on
Then another.
Ross said her name.
“I’m here.”
“Do not post. Do not respond to soldiers. Do not correct rumors. Do not contact Vega directly until we talk.”
“That last one might be difficult.”
“Why?”
The examination room door opened.
Sergeant Vega stood in the hallway.
He had put his campaign hat back on.
Mara looked at him.
“Because he’s here.”
Ross became very quiet.
“Is anyone with him?”
“Keller.”
The medic leaned around Vega.
“Hi.”
Ross said, “Put me on speaker.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“You absolutely are not—”
Mara ended the call.
Vega looked at the phone.
“Brigade?”
“Yes.”
“They angry?”
“Yes.”
“With me?”
“Currently with everyone.”
“That sounds right.”
Keller stepped into the room.
“I told him two minutes.”
Vega glanced at him.
“You said five.”
“I changed my clinical assessment.”
“You’re enjoying this.”
“A little.”
Mara pulled the blanket higher over her legs.
Vega stayed near the door.
He seemed unsure what physical distance was appropriate now.
That, more than anything, made her believe the road had affected him.
“You asked me not to leave,” he said.
“I did.”
“So.”
“So.”
Keller looked between them.
“This is already going great.”
Mara almost smiled.
Vega did not.
He took off his hat again.
There was nowhere to put it.
He held it.
“I remember Daniel.”
Mara felt the muscles in her face become still.
“How?”
“He worked second squad.”
“You were his platoon sergeant.”
“Yes.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Vega’s thumb pressed against the hat brim.
“He argued.”
Mara blinked.
“That’s what you remember?”
“He argued about things other soldiers complained about quietly.”
“That sounds like him.”
“He was good at reading regulations.”
“That does not sound like him.”
Vega looked at her.
The faintest line appeared beside his mouth.
“He wasn’t always right.”
“No. He was extremely comfortable with that fact.”
Keller shifted against the wall.
The room had grown strange.
Not comfortable.
But human.
Mara hated that.
She had not come to discover Vega could remember Daniel being annoying.
She had come for a cleaner division.
Dead brother.
Man who betrayed him.
Truth.
Consequences.
May you like
Instead Vega looked at the floor and said, “He gave me a safety memorandum six days before the march.”
Mara’s hand tightened on the blanket.
