Page 14 of Deception and New Direction

She glanced down then back at me.Therewas a brief moment whereIsaw the exact second she decided not to let me win this round.

With a sweet smile, she shrugged. “It’sfor my murder board.”

I laughed.Thiswoman was too quick-witted for her own good.

“DoIget the murder board all to myself, or is there anyone else on there with me?”

“You’re on there with a few other assholes,” she quipped.

From the back office,Cat’svoice rang out: “Puta quarter in the jar!”

Ruthie growled under her breath before muttering a string of soft curses, which only madeCatyell louder.

“Every time you swear you put a quarter in the jar!”Catyelled again. “Youagreed!”

Ruthie sighed in defeat and turned back to me. “Thephoto is actually for your sister.Shewants my help putting together a collage for her living room.Thiswas the last picture she sent me to print, soIhaven’t put it in with the others yet.”

That made sense.

I gave her a small smile. “Goodto know you’re not going to murder me.”

“Not yet,” she deadpanned then turned back to face her computer with a small smirk on her face.

My face, however, had a wide grin from ear to ear asImade my way back upstairs to my office.

I was happy thatRuthieand my sister had become friends.WhenIleft for theArmywhenIwas eighteen,Ihad leftElliebehind, andInever knew how much she would need friends as a lifeline.

My parents had died in a car crash whenElliewas thirteen andIhad just turned eighteen.Wewent to live with our grandma, butIquickly realized my parents hadn’t had a life insurance policy or any real emergency funds, and we would quickly become a burden on my grandmother.KnowingElliewouldn’t be able to live on her own for several years,Ihad a decision to make.Geta job right out of school or join theArmy.Ihad always had the military in the back of my mind but had also looked at college and other options too—while my parents were alive.ButwhenIsaw the struggle we brought to our grandma—who never viewed it that way and certainly never treated us as a burden—Idecided to enlist in theArmyfour months afterIgraduated high school.

My grandma fought me on sending her money, butItold her ifIwas renting an apartment, they would make me pay even whileIwasn’t living in it, so she should view this as my rent money.Iknew she hated taking the handout, but she also needed it, so she relented afterIpushed.

TheArmyhad helped me out in more ways than just helping to send money back to my family.Iwas in a bad spot after my parents died.Ithink because my initial focus was helping my sister grieve and ease the transition for my grandmother,Inever had a chance to grieve myself.

The military gave me solace and space to grieve.Butbecause training, and then missions, required your full attention,Iwas never able to get too deep in my grief.

Most importantly, in theArmy,Ihad made friends who became my brothers.

I remember sitting outside our camp one night on guard duty withVinceandWadea few days after our mission inJalalabadhad goneFUBAR.

“You guys in it for the long haul?”Wadeasked.

“What do you mean?”Vinceresponded.

“I always thoughtI’dbe in the military for life,”Wadesaid thoughtfully. “Servemy full twenty- plus years to get my retirement benefits and pension, but nowIdon’t know.”

I knew what he was thinking.I’dthought the same thing until our mission had gone haywire a few days ago.Unfortunately, that was common enough that the military had an acronym for it—fucked up beyond all recognition, orFUBAR.

“There’s gotta be safer ways to get the bad guys,”Isaid, knowing they felt the same.

As shitty as this job could be sometimes, it still felt good knowing you made a difference.

“My cousinArcher, the cop, is thinking about getting out,”Vincesaid. “Hefeels the same way we do.Hewants to make a difference, but he’s often caught up in red tape.”

Government bureaucracy at its finest.Didn’tmatter if you were a cop or in the military, that red tape was still there.

“He’s moving toAtlantaand wanted to know ifIwanted to go in with him on a security and private investigations business,”Vinceadded.

I’d heard about people doing that.Ourskills fit that mold perfectly.

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