The Last Hour (Thompson Sisters) by Sheehan-Miles, Charles (reading well .txt) 📕

you close your laptop, and don’t read another newspaper or watch the news for the next six months. It’s only going to piss you off.”

I nodded. “You’re probably right.”

“Trust me, I’m right.”

Carrie came back in. She was carrying a small tray with three mugs of coffee. It was a small gesture, and I wanted nothing more right then than to sweep her in my arms and run away. Elmore sipped his coffee, closing his eyes and breathing deep through his nose.

“Oh, that’s from heaven, Carrie, thank you.”

She smiled.

“All right. I know you’re probably going insane right now. So first thing, I want to answer any questions you’ve got, and then I’ll brief you on what to expect in the coming weeks. And then I’m going to ask you questions. A lot of them. For the next few days you won’t be reporting to work at the hospital, because I want to know every last detail about your deployment to Afghanistan.”

Carrie and I both nodded.

“So ... what questions do you have right now before we start?”

Carrie caught me off guard by speaking first. She didn’t mince words. “I want to know if you’re going to represent Ray, really represent him, or should we be looking for a civilian lawyer.”

Elmore grinned. “Good one. Here’s how it works. I don’t know how familiar you are with the military justice system, but I fall in a completely different chain of command than the prosecutors and the General and all those folks. My job’s to give Ray the best possible chance of winning his case. And—” he paused, and his eyes swiveled to me as he said the next sentence, “I think you can see I’m not some snot-nosed kid straight out of law school.”

I liked that. “You used to be Combat Arms.”

He nodded. “Eighteen years. Gulf War, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. I was a platoon sergeant in 3rd ID when I lost the arm, so I went to law school, then came back in. So what I’ll tell you is this, Ray and Carrie. I get that shit happens in war. I’ll do everything I can to keep you free. If you want to get a civilian lawyer, that’s fine, I’ll work with whoever you get. But what I want to see is you going free. This charge is complete bullshit.”

Before I could open my mouth, Carrie chimed in again. “Why is Ray being charged, anyway? He’s the one who reported it in the first place.”

Elmore shook his head. “Because two of his former buddies turned on him. They told the investigators that he pulled the trigger.”

As the words came out of his mouth, I stood up, involuntarily. Not breathing, it felt like I had a buzzing in my ears as my fists clenched.

“Who was it?” I whispered.

“Colton, of course, and Hicks.”

“Excuse me a moment,” I said. Fuck. I couldn’t even think. I walked away, back toward the bathroom, and Carrie called out, “Ray?” in a panicky voice. “I’ll be right back,” I said, my voice a lot sharper than I’d intended.

In the bathroom, I leaned against the counter, trying to catch my breath. My chest hurt, and it was a struggle to keep a lid on whatever the hell emotions were roiling through me. Hicks didn’t surprise me. Or maybe he did. I don’t know. We’d never liked each other, but I’d never even considered he might be a liar.

But Colton ... I knew he was trying to save himself. But it felt like a betrayal all over again. And at that thought, before I could think or act or anything rational at all, my fist lashed out, smashing into the mirror with a loud bang, and a long crack split the mirror from top to bottom.

I sagged against the sink.

“Ray?” Carrie called from outside the bathroom.

Ah, shit. I took a breath, then another one, trying to calm down, and then I opened the door.

Before she said a word, I said, “I’m sorry.”

She grabbed me by the shoulders and whispered, “Never apologize to me. I’m with you on this, Ray. I get it. All right?”

I swayed and nodded, not trusting myself to speak. So she took my hand, and we walked back into the living room.

Somehow Elmore didn’t look surprised at all.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“Might as well get it out of your system now,” he said.

I shook my head. “I’m not one to lose control.”

“Well, these are exceptional circumstances. And ... I’m sorry I had to tell you that. You were close to them?”

I shook my head. “Never really knew Hicks that well. But Colton was ... until he went nuts, he was kind of like a father. You know how much a platoon sergeant means. And Colton was a good one.”

Elmore grimaced. “All right, well, we got that out of the way. I want to give you an idea of what to expect in the next few weeks. Your record’s completely clean ... you ever been tangled up in any legal stuff before?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. All I know is what I’ve seen on TV.”

“Forget whatever you know from there. The military justice system doesn’t work like that.”

“Okay,” I said.

“So, basically here’s what happens. A complaint comes in, or a commander becomes aware of a possible crime through some other means. In this case, it was the letter and thumb drive you sent. Once the commander becomes aware of it, it’s his or her responsibility as an officer to decide what to do. Conduct an investigation. Ignore it. Ask CID to investigate. It’s entirely up to the commander whose responsibility it falls under. In this case, your letter came in to the Inspector General’s office. IG turned it over to the Pentagon, who gave it to Major General Buelles. He’s the Commander of the Military District of Washington. Buelles asked CID to conduct the initial investigation. We clear so far?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“So CID conducts the investigation, and they asked for help from FBI, because one of the