Chapter 3 - The Assessment Of Damage
I reached the bottom step and stopped.
Alexander immediately closed the distance between us.
He didn't make a dramatic show of affection, but his hand moved to the small of my back, solid and protective.
“Are you hurt?” he asked softly, for my ears alone.
“No,” I told him.
“Just furious.”
“Understood,” he murmured.
He turned back to the two MPs standing near the heavy double doors.
“Staff Sergeant Miller.”
“Sir!” the taller MP responded, snapping to attention.
“Escort Major Carter upstairs.”
“Catalogue and secure every piece of damaged property.”
“Take photographs from multiple angles.”
“Record serial numbers on the ribbons and collect the fabric remnants for chain of custody.”
“Understood, Sir.”
“Wait! No! You cannot do that!”
My mother found her voice, though it cracked with panic.
“This is my home!”
“You cannot send armed soldiers into my guest bedrooms!”
“This is an outrage!”
“Richard, do something!”
Richard looked completely lost.
He was a man used to bullying junior contractors and intimidating bank loan officers.
He had no protocol for two armed military police officers carrying tactical evidence cases into his home.
“General Hale,” Richard began, his hands raised in a placating gesture.
“Let’s be reasonable here.”
“Helen had a momentary lapse of judgment.”
“Women... they get emotional during wedding weeks.”
“She was stressed about the floral arrangements and the catering.”
“I will write a check right now.”
“Whatever the jacket cost, I will double it.”
“I’ll buy Emily ten new uniforms!”
Alexander turned his cold, gray eyes toward my father.
“You cannot buy this uniform, Mr. Carter.”
“It is not off-the-rack civilian attire.”
“That uniform bore the Meritorious Service Ribbon from her deployment in Kandahar.”
“It carried the Combat Medical Badge she earned while pulling injured soldiers out of burning vehicles.”
“Do you have a check that pays for that?”
Richard swallowed hard.
He had no answer.
Upstairs, the sound of the MPs' heavy boots echoed on the hardwood.
Aunt Marlene tried to slip past toward the kitchen, but Alexander glanced in her direction.
“Ma’am.”
Marlene froze, the wine glass wobbling in her hand.
“Were you present when the property was destroyed?”
“I... I was just having a drink!” Marlene stammered, her face turning crimson.
“I didn't cut anything!”
“Helen did it!”
“She brought the shears from the kitchen!”
“Marlene!” Mom shrieked, betrayed.
“I am telling the truth!” Marlene cried.
“I told her it was a bad idea!”
“You did not,” I said quietly, speaking for the first time since coming downstairs.
“You laughed.”
“You said the uniform made me look like a man.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
The room felt like an unexploded ordnance.
Just then, the back door opened, and laughter spilled into the hallway.
Lucas walked in, holding a garment bag containing his custom tuxedo.
Beside him was Clara Van Doren, stunning, polished, and wearing an ivory designer dress.
Behind them walked Clara’s parents, Julian and Eleanor Van Doren.
Julian Van Doren was a titan in regional transport.
He was a member of the governor’s economic board.
And he was the primary investor Richard Carter had been begging for three million dollars to save his company.
“Mom!” Lucas called out cheerfully, completely unaware of the scene in the foyer.
“Clara’s parents wanted to drop off the wine early!”
“Where do you want the—”
Lucas stopped dead.
He looked at the two armed MPs standing at the top of the stairs carrying black pelican cases.
He looked at Alexander’s towering figure and the three gleaming stars on his shoulders.
Then he looked at his mother, who was visibly trembling against the wall.
“What... what is going on here?” Lucas asked, his smile vanishing.
Julian Van Doren stepped past Lucas into the foyer.
His eyes immediately locked onto Alexander.
Julian’s jaw dropped.
“General Hale?”
Alexander turned slowly.
“Mr. Van Doren.”
Julian immediately stepped forward, his right hand extended, his posture shifting into deep, unmistakable deference.
“General, I had no idea you were in the area!”
“I thought you were at the NATO summit in Brussels until Friday!”
Alexander briefly shook Julian’s hand.
“I returned early on personal business, Julian.”
“Personal business?” Julian looked around the tense room, clearly bewildered.
“What personal business brings the Deputy Chief of Operations to the Carter residence?”
Alexander placed an arm gently around my shoulders and pulled me forward.
“I am here to protect my wife, Major Emily Carter.”
“And to oversee an official investigation into the willful destruction of military property inside this house.”
Julian froze.
Eleanor Van Doren gasped softly.
Lucas dropped his tuxedo garment bag onto the floor.
“Your... wife?” Lucas whispered, staring at me like he was seeing a ghost.
“Emily?”
“You’re married to General Hale?”
I looked at my brother.
The golden boy.
The brother who had watched our mother cut me down for twelve years and had never once told her to stop because my misery kept the spotlight firmly on him.
“Yes, Lucas,” I said evenly.
May you like
“I am.”
“And our mother just ensured that the police will be the next guests arriving for your wedding rehearsal.”
